JON DALY insists he will continue to speak his mind after Hearts’ interim head coach criticised the Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers.
The Irishman reacted angrily last weekend when Rodgers questioned Hearts’ management structure and recruitment, stating that former head coach Ian Cathro was always ‘up against it’ at Tynecastle.
Daly hit back after their 4-1 defeat at Parkhead by describing the comments as ‘absolutely disgraceful’, gaining plenty of plaudits among fans for his staunch defence of the club.
Daly is adamant he will not back away from a battle if he feels his team are being unfairly targeted.
He said: “If something is said that I think is out of order, I’m going to speak my mind, I’m going to tell them – I’m going to say what is right. It doesn’t matter to me if they’re the Celtic manager or the Alloa manager. It’s about protecting your players and your club, making sure you’re not just getting kicked in the stomach because things aren’t going well.”
Daly’s desire to defend Hearts is only exacerbated by his feeling that they have become a punching bag following the disappointing reign of Cathro and repeated criticism of director of football Craig Levein’s perceived interference in first-team affairs.
He said: “Obviously Craig gets a hard time, but the club is structured in such a way that Craig is there as support for the football department. We use him however we see fit. People talk about the note- passing etc, but that was stuff the previous management team wanted done. I think it is very unfair on Robbie Neilson and Ian Cathro to suggest they were worked from the back. They weren’t.”
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