Hearts boss Craig Levein is set to “step down” as manager of the Tynecastle club, just a few days before they travel to Hampden to face Rangers in the Betfred Cup semi-final.
The Jambos boss has come under increasing pressure from supporters for a string of poor results in the league, culminating in a 1-0 defeat to St. Johnstone this week, with only one win in the Scottish Premiership this season.
The poor start to the season sees Hearts languishing in 11th place in the Scottish Premiership and the change comes at a particularly interesting time of the season.
This will surely not affect Rangers’ preparations for the crunch tie which will be one of the Ibrox club’s most important games of the season.
It’s also worth noting that Craig Levein took two points off Rangers only a matter of weeks ago, so could well have motivated his team to achieve similar in the cup.
Managerless Hearts is an interesting prospect at Hampden and the side will become something of a different challenge for Rangers.
“Craig has worked tirelessly and selflessly, around the clock, to try to achieve success, despite the many challenges with which he has been faced.
“He will not return to his previous director of football role and, that being so, will step down from the board.
“He will, however, see out his contract, which runs until the end of the season, working closely with the executive management team in continuing to develop and improve the structure of the backroom and youth operations within the development.
“We are confident that his knowledge and experience will contribute massively to ensuring that, come the end of the season, he will leave the football department in a healthy and thriving state.”
