Wouter Vrancken backed for Hearts rebound as Craig Levein lashes out at 'impatience' in modern game

Craig Levein backs Hearts manager Wouter Vrancken to turn things around, citing a crippling injury crisis that has left the club short of defenders.

Craig Levein has defended Hearts manager Wouter Vrancken following a difficult run of results, insisting the Dutch boss deserves time to succeed at Tynecastle. The Jambos suffered a 5-2 home defeat to Falkirk last weekend, adding to heavy losses against Celtic and Thun in the Europa Conference League.

Levein highlighted the scale of Hearts' injury problems as a major factor in their struggles. The club is without key players including Craig Halkett, Stephen Kingsley, Harry Milne, Blair Spittal, Oisin McEntee, Tomas Magnusson and Calvin Miller, leaving Vrancken severely short of options, particularly at centre-back.

The Hearts legend criticised what he sees as impatience in modern football, noting that managers now typically last around 12 months compared to three years when he started his career. Levein also pointed to the constraints of the transfer window system and limited budgets as factors that make it difficult for new managers to quickly reshape their squads.