Craig Levein had too many plates spinning at Tynecastle.
And lessons learned by taking on an overly big workload with Hearts will be put to good use at St Johnstone.
The new Saints boss was “knackered” when he wore director of football and first team manager hats the last time he was employed by a Premiership club.
Now back in the dugout after four years away from the top-flight, narrowing his focus and delegating duties, will be key to spearheading a Perth survival mission.
“If you take into consideration everything a manager has to do nowadays I think it’s impossible,” said Levein. “I really do.
“That’s what I learned from Hearts, 100%.
“I found myself knackered there, doing the two jobs.
“I keep talking about having the energy to cope with the demands of the job.
“So I think coming back into the Premiership and trying to do everything would be a horrendous mistake.
“I enjoyed going out on a Sunday watching the under-16s and under-14s and all that stuff.
“But once you’ve had a game on the Saturday, away all day up to Aberdeen or in Glasgow, on a Sunday you’re somewhere watching kids games.
“Then you start it all again on a Monday with the first team training.
“I had the director of football stuff on top of it, it all just became nowhere near as enjoyable as I wanted it to be.
“That was probably the biggest lesson for me. I was thinking to myself ‘this is supposed to be fun’ but I was knackered and I couldn’t deal with the situation.
“I was stretched too thin, doing too many things and when things are going wrong the pressure builds.
“So I always thought that if I do come back in I would make sure I had people in place who would do a lot of the things which take up a lot of my time.
“That gives me the space to think and deal with the things I need to deal with.”
Is there something wrong?
With Andy Kirk being handed a senior training ground role after swapping the Highland League for the Premiership, Levein believes his own observational remit through the week will benefit the team.
“I want to stand back and watch,” said the 59-year-old.
“When you’re right in the middle of a coaching session and you’re doing everything it’s not that easy to see things.
“But once you get to know players you can watch them in training and know if there’s something wrong with a player.
“You can work out over a period of time that: ‘Wait a minute, there’s something not quite right here’.
“And I don’t mean an injury.
“Sometimes people have problems at home and they bottle it up and don’t speak about it.
“You can then go and have a chat and find out if it’s something you can help with. I do think that’s important.
“My role at training is we’ll have a meeting and discuss what we are doing and Andy and Alex (Cleland) will take care of it.
“I’ll stand back and watch and maybe make some comments if I feel there’s something needed to be said.
“The level and standard of training needs to be good to allow the team to improve.”
‘The right thing’
Levein was linked with a Premiership return at his old club, Dundee United, last season.
“One thing I didn’t do was jump back in because there were opportunities,” he said. “But they weren’t right.
Craig Levein to Dundee United: Scottish Cup hero urges Tannadice chiefs to ‘get him in the door’ as ex boss is backed for ‘top to bottom’ rebuild https://t.co/iyBxSm8w8c pic.twitter.com/O0ZA2Ih1wQ
— Evening Telegraph Sport (@Tele_Sport) March 1, 2023
“I said to myself was that I want to go somewhere I feel I can make a difference.
“That was important to me.
“I’d been asked loads of times if I’d go back in and I said only if I find the right thing and I feel this is the right thing.
“I was disappointed with the way it finished at Hearts.
“I don’t want to go out on that note. I want to do a really good job and this is the place I am going to try.”
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