Angus Beith admits he’s honoured to have been appointed head coach of Hearts B and says he’ll give it his all to get as many players into the first team as possible.
The 28-year-old has taken over following Liam Fox’s move into the first team coaching setup but having been involved at various age groups within the Hearts Academy as well as the club’s Balerno Performance School, Beith already holds a strong knowledge on many of his players.
“I am very honoured to be given this opportunity. To be trusted with a position like this. Obviously, it's the last step before the first team. It's a really important position in the club and I'm ready to give it my all. I'm delighted that, as I said, the club feel that I'm the person to go and take that position on.
“I feel like I'm in a great position, having worked with Foxy for the last four months so closely, developed a really good relationship with him, watched his work and his level of work and the detail that he puts in every day. I think it's really helped me and put me in a better place to be able to do this role at a good level. So, delighted to get the opportunity and I'm really excited to try and help every single one of these players get into the first team.
“The structure is really, really good at the moment. I've got a great relationship with David and Lee at 18s. Having worked in the academy, I know a lot of the guys in the academy as well, so the ones that are coming through into the 18s as well. But then, importantly, there's a really good relationship between myself and Foxy and the manager and Mick have been great as well, really open.
“It feels like the lines of communication are there and you've seen it with Adam [Forrester]. The opportunities are there if they work hard every day, they maximise themselves, they get better and they show what they can do with the B team.
“The opportunities are there for them and I think it's great for them to feel Foxy there. I think that's a really important part and to see Adam playing gives them that added motivation and a little bit of extra hope.”
Neil Critchley was an interested spectator at Ainslie Park on Friday night, alongside his assistant Mick Garrity, Liam Fox and Paul Gallacher and Beith admits that it’s a positive thing for the youngsters to see.
“The staff and the players really appreciate when the manager comes. It gives them an opportunity for them to go and see them first hand. And yeah, it does add a little bit extra as well for them.
“I think that the players feel it and it's a really good thing to have in the club because, as I said, it's streamlined and aligned and everybody's kind of in it together and they're treating the B-team seriously.”
Having spent time within the Hearts Academy himself, Beith believes he has lots of personal experience to pass on to the current crop of youngsters in maroon.
“I think having felt it myself all the way through the academy and then being there as a player where I was trying to make that last step and I was in and around the first team, I didn't manage to become a mainstay in the team, but I had that exposure.
“I think it stands me in good stead to pass on little bits and pieces to the boys and help them and I think even some of the mistakes that I perhaps made at that age as well, I'm trying to get them to see it.
“The biggest thing is that I think when you're that age, you probably think you know better sometimes, but it's just trying to get them to see that I'm here to help you.
"The things that I'm telling you, believe me, is going to help you progress. So, I think I've got a lot of good relationships and connections with the boys that will hopefully help with that, and hopefully to take on that info and we can get them up and pushing towards the first team.”
The head coach kicked off his permanent time in charge with three points as Mackenzie Ross scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 victory over Broxburn Athletic at Ainslie Park on Friday night.
Prior to that victory, the Wee Jambos had been on a tough run, which saw them go 11 matches without a win. Broxburn pushed hard in the second half and Hearts had to really roll up their sleeves towards the end and grind out the win.
Asked if it was more pleasing to get that long-awaited win in the grind out manner that they did, Beith replied:
“I think for my nerves I would have preferred a 3-0, but I completely take your point. I think it's results like this that almost bring the group together and the feeling in the changing room was amazing. I think because we really had to grind it out, we had to suffer loads and suffer together and because of that, I think it felt really, really good. I think for our development where we're at as a team and that being a bit of a weakness for us this year, hopefully it will give them confidence when we're in those situations again going forward this season.
“Recently when I've been taking the team, it's been a focus mainly on the basics of just working hard, not worrying too much about the results, it's about you individually getting better each day. So, if we're losing games, it's not that it doesn't matter, because that's a really important part of their development, but make sure that you're not taking that into training, because it's your development that's on the line every day, so make sure you're working hard, and that intensity is there every day.
“Focus is a big word for me and that's been there, especially the last couple of weeks in training, it's been much, much better and I think we've actually then seen that on the pitch tonight. So that's been my main message in training, make sure you look after your individual development, you're at it every day and you're maximising yourself. And as I say, I think being better in training, we've then seen it translate on the pitch today, which is good.”
