Brown says Davies would make a 'wonderful' Hearts manager

CRAIG Brown believes Hearts would be capturing one of the best young coaches in Britain if they recruited Billy Davies as manager.

In a glowing reference to his former assistant and successor at Preston North End, the former Scotland coach said Davies had the pedigree to work at any level and speculated that he must have pushed Paul Le Guen hard in the race to succeed Alex McLeish at Rangers.

However, Brown has conceded that Davies' lack of experience in Europe could count against him. Hearts will take part in the Champions League qualifiers in July and owner Vladimir Romanov has expressed his desire to have at the helm a manager who has worked in Europe's premier competition.

Valdas Ivanauskas, the caretaker head coach at Tynecastle, does not meet the criterion either, but has delivered the Scottish Cup and a second-place league finish during his short stint in charge.

Brown said: "Billy would be a wonderful manager for Hearts. He's got every attribute - he's top notch, superb in every respect. He has complete football knowledge, terrific enthusiasm and is marvellous on the training ground.

"If Le Guen does a better job than Billy would have done at Rangers he'll be doing well. The only debit against Billy was that he didn't have European experience. But how do you get European experience except by being thrown in there?

"As a former Rangers player and someone who was manager of the month several times in the SPL with Motherwell, and who has done great things in England, I would be amazed if he wasn't a leading candidate for Rangers.

"I don't want to compare him with Le Guen because I don't know Le Guen, who could be the next Alex Ferguson for all I know. But Billy Davies has got every attribute to manage at a high level for the next 20 years."

Because of their past association at Preston, Brown's name has been thrown into the ring as a potential director of football at Hearts should Davies become Romanov's latest capture.

The 65-year-old, who has a part-time advisory role with Fulham, commented: "That's all hypothetical. All I would say is that I would be happy to work with Billy Davies again if all else was even."

Though delighted by Scotland's collection of the Kirin Cup in Japan, Brown joined the chorus of criticism aimed at Gordon Strachan after the Celtic manager kept five players, including three Scots, away from the tournament so they could appear in testimonial matches.

He advised Scotland manager Walter Smith not to accept any resistance from clubs when it comes to qualifying games.

"I think [Strachan] should have let them go," he said. "I have been to the Kirin Cup and it's a great trip because the conditions are perfect. Scotland had two good games out there as well, and they were deprived of that.

"But the one word you've got to use as an international manager is compromise. Don't compromise for a competitive game, but if you compromise in a friendly context you'll get the goodwill when it matters most."

Taken from the Scotsman