Former Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart has taken aim at Craig Levein once again.
The latter was dismissed from his roles as manager and director of football at the Jambos in 2019. Despite that, he has stayed on the payroll, with his contract set to expire at the scheduled end of the season, along with his assistant Austin MacPhee who’s also still on Hearts’ books.
Craig Levein is still getting a Hearts wage. (Photo by Ewan Bootman/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Owner Ann Budge has implemented 50% wage cuts across the board at Tynecastle and Levein and MacPhee have accepted these measures. Speaking to BT Sport, Stewart doesn’t see why Levein should be getting wages at all
“(Craig Levein and Austin MacPhee) deserve to be commended. But there’s a bigger issue at play here,” Stewart said. “That bigger issue is the fact that Craig Levein has a wage at all.
“This guy was sacked from two roles many months ago and he’s still there picking up a wage. This guy has been the architect of many of the club’s ills. And it’s simply not good enough that’s he’s still around.”
Feud rumbles on
Stewart and Levein’s rivalry has rumbled on for some time now, with both men openly critical of the other, often scathing in their opinion.
Levein’s blasted Stewart before. (Photo by Ewan Bootman/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
It’s clear that Stewart doesn’t believe that Levein merits a wage after finding himself dismissed as manager and director of football last year. Hearts have been critical of the media recently for reports on the club’s finances.
The most recent statement dismissed notions that warnings had been sent to players over the suspension of their contracts. A statement from Budge earlier in the week saw the Jambos owner label unnamed pundits as ‘scathing in their criticism of apparent financial mis-management.’