Latest news with #AndrewMcKinlay
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Shankland to exit Hearts as contract talks break down
Lawrence Shankland looks set to leave Hearts after talks over a new contract broke down. Shankland's deal at Tynecastle had expired at the end of last season but the club had been hopeful of keeping their star striker. Indeed, given the positive talks between new boss Derek McInnes and the player himself, there was optimism of Shankland extending his stay. McInnes made no secret of his desire to keep the former PFA Scotland Player of the Year and had held more discussions with the 29-year-old earlier this week. But Mail Sport understands those talks have now broken down, with Shankland not travelling with Hearts to their pre-season camp in Spain yesterday. Whilst keen to keep hold of the striker, McInnes made it clear that Hearts couldn't wait forever in terms of a decision being made. Mail Sport understands the difference between what Shankland wanted and what the board were willing to offer was minimal, but Hearts have been unwilling to budge. A source close to Shankland said: 'Lawrence wanted to continue at Hearts but unfortunately the chief executive Andrew McKinlay doesn't share the same ambitions that he has for the club.' McKinlay, who publicly admitted making the mistake of appointing doomed previous manager Neil Critchley without meeting him in person, is eager to make amends with new manager McInnes. But it now looks likely that the club will have to move forward and start afresh without their main goalscorer. It is expected that Hearts and McInnes will now ramp up their search for a new No 9 over the coming weeks.
Scotsman
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Hearts chief Andrew McKinlay speaks out on his future, abuse from fans and explains why he is angry
Edinburgh club had a disappointing 2024/25 campaign in the SPFL Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Torrents of abuse raining down on Hearts directors became almost a weekly occurrence last season. Supporters turned on senior officials during the worst start to a campaign in club history, including an early League Cup exit, then a catastrophic European elimination, derby defeats against Hibs and, finally, a seventh-place Premiership finish. One man suffered the brunt of the flak. Chief executive Andrew McKinlay endured months of unforgiving criticism which still continues as Hearts prepare for season 2025/26. There is a new management team led by Derek McInnes, plus four permanent signings with several more to follow. McKinlay, however, remains a focal point for fans' ire. Chants against him and chairwoman Ann Budge were heard several times at matches last year as some Tynecastle followers called for boardroom change. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad As a former Scottish Football Association executive, public carping is not new to McKinlay. He is determined not to be derailed in efforts to restore Hearts to a challenging position. In the third of an exclusive three-part interview with the Edinburgh News, he explained the impact of vocal condemnation from fans. 'It's not nice, it's very stressful,' said McKinlay. 'I've got pretty high resilience because of previous roles I've done. I'd like to think that it's not really personal. I know it's aimed at me personally or aimed at others personally, but what do I mean by 'it's not personal'? Well, as far as I'm aware, no-one that's sang my name or shouted my name or abused me actually knows me. Once people abuse you who know you, that's a very different situation. 'These are people who are, understandably, massively frustrated with what they've seen this season and they want to take that out on someone. I totally understand it. I don't like it of course because it's aimed at me, but I totally understand it. Football is a hugely passionate sport and, for a huge number of our fans and fans of other teams, this is their life. 'During the week, they may work in a job which they just do to genuinely almost make money so they can come to the football and pay for their season ticket. I'm well aware that when we don't perform on the pitch, we've ruined their week, we've ruined their weekend. They're angry and they're frustrated. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Anger at Hearts and the quest for SPFL success in Scotland with Tony Bloom's £10m 'I can assure them that I'm also angry, I'm also frustrated, but they are entitled to their views. They're entitled to be angry at me. All I can say back is that I genuinely am working as hard as I can, trying my best for this club and I believe that I can help us and have helped us up to now have some success. We've had a bad season but we will bounce back from that. I'm also the first to admit - and I don't think anyone that I know could say anything else - but we all make mistakes. The big thing about any mistakes you make in life is that you learn from them and you go forward. 'I think in life these days - football very much so - you're almost not allowed to make a mistake. Second chances aren't given in life any more, you're cancelled immediately. I'm not talking about football, I'm talking more generally in society. I find that quite disturbing actually that people make a mistake or whatever and that's it, they shouldn't be entitled. It's almost like, 'well that's it, fire them, end of their shelf-life,' and I struggle with that. This is a tough sport, it's a passionate sport and our fans are entitled to their passion.' While others might question their own longevity or desire to continue amid such pressure, McKinlay's resolve is clear. He feels Hearts are embarking on an exciting new chapter with Tony Bloom's £10m investment and Jamestown Analytics' involvement. He insisted he has not thought about walking away from Tynecastle. 'No, not at all. I love working at this club, I love working in football,' he said. 'I'd give anything to bring success to this club. If I thought I couldn't do the job or I wasn't good enough to do the job or I couldn't take us through the next stage, then I would give thought to it but as I sit here right now, I think I can. I think even the fact that we've got to this stage, having investment from someone, the whole analytics piece, I'm sure the fans must appreciate that hasn't just happened. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'For us to get to here, there's been a lot of work by me, other members of the board and my team. The guys who work in my team put in a huge amount of work to get us the best front-of-shirt sponsor we've ever had, the best kit deal we've ever had, the stadium we've got out there now. 'You compare that to others - and I totally understand that if the men's first team have a bad season then no-one really is interested in all that other stuff. But we have a lot of really good things going on here, so we just need to get the number one thing right now and that's what I'm absolutely committed to doing.' READ MORE: Andrew McKinlay interview Part 1 READ MORE: Andrew McKinlay interview Part 2
Scotsman
20-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
'Never again' - Hearts CEO admits the key mistake made in Neil Critchley appointment
Andrew McKinley breaks silence on reasons behind sacking Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay admits the club made a mistake with their managerial recruitment process and appointment last time out. Hearts sacked Neil Critchley after six months in charge after they failed to qualify for the William Hill Premiership top six and then lost at home to Dundee to raise the prospect of a relegation fight. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad They have since won their final four games under caretaker boss Liam Fox and appointed former Aberdeen and Kilmarnock manager Derek McInnes as their new head coach. Hearts sporting director Graeme Jones (L) and chief executive Andrew McKinlay. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group) | SNS Group Regarding the previous appointment, McKinlay told Sky Sports: 'I'll admit that we got it wrong. If anyone can stand there and say they've not made mistakes then I challenge them on that. The main thing is you learn from those mistakes. 'We went for a certain type of manager and Neil was a very good coach, very nice guy, but I'm not sure he quite got the club and got the demands of the club. 'We spoke to a number of people but ultimately Neil was the one we ended up with and the only one that we actually entered into serious discussions with. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We spoke to a good number of other individuals, some of whom were named at the time, some of whom weren't. 'The one thing I did learn from that process though – and it is much harder with foreign managers – was you've got to meet people face to face. 'We didn't actually meet anyone face to face last time round. Some of that was circumstances, (sporting director) Graeme (Jones) wasn't in the role, I was out in Azerbaijan. 'It wasn't straightforward, we were keen to do it as quickly as possible and therefore we did it all remotely and I would never do that again. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'I don't think there's anything wrong with doing some of the interviews remotely, maybe the first lot, but I don't think you should ever appoint anyone into a job like that that you haven't sat down with face to face and that's something that obviously we've done on several occasions with Derek. 'We need someone that understands the Scottish game, someone that's managed at the top end of Scottish football, understands the demands of the Hearts support and has had success in the past. Derek is the man and I'm really looking forward to working with him.' Hearts sacked head coach Neil Critchley over fears the club could be dragged into a relegation battle. | SNS Group McKinlay expressed sympathy for Critchley and claimed he was 'very unlucky in some ways'. Hearts looked set to qualify for the knockout stages of the UEFA Conference League after a good start but a late penalty cost them victory at home to Petrocub in a final game they were expected to win. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad They missed out on the top six on the final day and then had two men sent off in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup semi-finals against Aberdeen before going down to a late extra-time winner. 'Every fine margin, everything went the wrong way for us,' McKinley said. 'So in some ways you've got to feel sorry for Neil. 'We just got to the stage where we felt we were concerned, I'll be honest, after that Dundee game that we were going to slip into a relegation situation.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Jamestown backed Hearts' push for McInnes, says Jones
Jamestown Analytics backed Hearts' decision to identify Derek McInnes as their top target to become the club's new head coach, sporting director Graeme Jones has Neil Critchley was appointed in mid-October, chief executive Andrew McKinlay was keen to emphasise that "the analytics only guide us".That was also the case for recruiting a replacement for Critchley, who was sacked just six months after his appointment."We looked at coaches within Scotland and also outside Scotland," Jones said. "It became clear as the process went on that Derek was the right man for us."CEO McKinlay referenced that Critchley was "the preferred candidate from an analytics perspective" back in asked if McInnes was the number one choice by Jamestown Analytics, Jones replied: "They don't really provide information like that. They provide a very neutral output to help inform the decision."He was my number one pick and Jamestown Analytics supported my reasoning, but they don't really rank it in that fashion."His experience within Scotland is very important. He's able to deal with the intensity of the Scottish game."He has real first-hand experience of the expectations of what our fanbase want. Combining that with the fact he's a very good coach and a proven leader, everything really matched up."Jones joined Hearts at the end of last year from the Scottish FA, just at the time the club were announcing Critchley as head says looking back the appointment of the former Blackpool boss proved to be the wrong one."Hindsight's a wonderful thing and the decision was made back then to look for candidates outside Scotland," Jones explained. "That's the decision that was made and it didn't prove to be the correct decision."
BBC News
26-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
How did Critchley's tenure unfold?
When Neil Critchley was appointed in October, many Hearts fans had never heard of the former Liverpool youth he had managed Queens Park Rangers and Blackpool (on two separate occasions) but remained pretty much an unknown executive officer Andrew McKinlay refuted suggestions Critchley was the club's second choice because talks had broken down with former Norway boss Per-Mathias two wins in his first opening games appeared to show the Hearts board - or data partner Jamestown Analytics, who were heavily involved in the decision - had identified the right just three victories against the Premiership's bottom two teams in the next 14 matches in this run was a wretched performance against Moldovan minnows Petrocub at Tynecastle when a victory would have ensured European football would continue after big-game setbacks came against Celtic, Rangers and local rivals Hibernian, who resurrected their season after a similar dismal start to their wasn't helped by long-term injuries to key players, such as Frankie Kent, Stephen Kingsley and Craig Halkett. And when you add in the dip in form of striker Lawrence Shankland, the football gods were never really in his he will accept that football is a results industry and those results were simply not there for him.
