HEARTS first team coach Jon Daly admits his temporary spell in the Tynecastle dugout has reinforced his desire to become a manager - despite the sleepless nights and constant worry.
The Irishman oversaw four games at the start of the season between Ian Cathro’s sacking and Craig Levein’s appointment.
The club opted for experience following 31-year-old Cathro’s disastrous reign but Daly felt he was ready to make the step up, and insists he enjoyed acting as the figurehead for the team.
That included launching a robust response to Brendan Rodgers after the Celtic manager publicly questioned Hearts’ signing policy.
However, former Dundee Untied striker Daly, who also took charge of one match in December 2016 following Robbie Neilson’s departure to MK Dons, is happy to continue learning the ropes as he awaits his big break.
“I enjoyed the games I had last year and this year,” said Daly. “It’s given me the taste for management whether it’s in two, three or four years’ time. I see it as a long career so there’s no rush to jump into the hot-seat.
“I’m 35 and it’s a long career in football. There are managers in their 70s and management is a longer career than playing.
“I’m at a very good club that looks to develop young coaches and I’m in no rush to look anywhere else.
“I’m happy learning and taking things on board. Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity somewhere down the line.
“When I was caretaker I enjoyed dealing with the players, the press, everything. If you don’t enjoy it, you won’t thrive on it.
“I really enjoyed the whole experience although it was only four weeks. It was four weeks where you don’t switch off and you don’t really sleep. You think about all the permutations that could happen for a Saturday.
“That’s what I want to do so that’s what I’ll have to deal with as I go on.”
Daly, who is also the club’s under-20s boss, was brought to Tannadice by Levein as a player in 2007 before being reunited with the former Scotland manager on the backroom staff at Hearts nine years later.
The Dublin-born coach admits he is enjoying learning his trade under the 53-year-old.
He added: “I’ve known him a long time. He took me to Dundee United as a player and I had a lot of respect for him as my manager up there.
“That’s continued here. Myself, Andy Kirk, Liam Fox (Hearts coaches) and all the boys are in a good place where we can learn and see how a very good manager works. You can pick things up from him and see where it takes us.”
Levein’s return to the dugout ended his five-year absence from frontline management and Daly insists he is starting to see the old fire in the Hearts boss.
He added: “We have seen it. It’s going to take him time but you see he has a passion for football. Go to Oriam on a Saturday on Sunday morning and he’s there watching under-11s and under-12s to see the kids coming through. “He has the club’s best interests at heart and you see how much it means to him.
“On the sidelines, he’s starting to get a bit more animated - back to the scary Craig Levein we all know and love.
“It’s easy to see he does care. It rubs off on everyone and makes the players ensure they do their jobs.”
Meanwhile, Dundee United manager Csaba Laszlo wants Scott Fraser to tell him soon if he’s bound for Hearts in the summer, which is what the midfielder is expected to do.
“At the moment, I have just heard rumours and it’s not clear.” said Laszlo.
“If it is true then I would like for the player to come to me and say: ‘Ok, gaffer I want to move on.’ I want honesty.
“The door is open to him here and I hope, definitely, that this is just a rumour and nothing else.”
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