STEVE: LEVEIN WOULD BE PAR-FECT PICK

STEPHEN SIMMONS wants his former boss Craig Levein to turn around the fortunes of struggling Dunfermline.

Levein, now in charge at Raith, has been linked with the Pars following Jim Leishman's decision to stand down as manager this week.

But he is also understood to be interesting Dundee United where Craig Brewster's future remains uncertain.

Simmons made his first-team breakthrough at Hearts under Levein as a teenager and described his old boss as a "great manager".

And he reckons there is no better candidate for the vacant post than the in-demand Stark's Park gaffer.

He said: "I know what Craig Levein is all about. He did great things for Hearts when I was there and I have a lot of respect for him. He gave me my chance at Hearts and he's a top-class manager.

"When he came in at Hearts he was a breath of fresh air. He revamped the club and got them into the group stage of the UEFA Cup and third in the league two seasons on the trot.

"Teams feared going to Tynecastle under Craig. He brought a good work ethic to the team - make sure you did the basics and then you could play from there. He got people to work for him and we had great results.

"With the players he's got here to work with, to coach and do his stuff, I think he would do a great job.

"The success Hearts got last year was a result of the work Craig did at the club and he could do the same for us."

Simmons admitted Leishman's resignation speech to the players on Thursday had made for hard viewing, such was the emotion displayed by the tearful East End Park legend.

But he is hopeful the players will use the move to turn their season around and play on the turmoil at Tynecastle.

He added: "It was hard to take on Thursday because you don't like seeing that. The gaffer was crying and that shows how passionate he is about the club.

"It's never a good time to see what happened on Thursday but it's happened and you've got to deal with it.

"It was a sad day but the boys still seem to be in good spirits.

"Hopefully it can give us a wee bit of inspiration to go to Tynecastle and get a result."

Taken from the Daily Record