Inside Steven Naismith's Hearts sacking - where it all went wrong, biggest failing, next manager candidates

So, too, did the Hearts board. They hastily convened in the hours afterwards and came to a decision which was formally communicated at 1.46pm on Sunday. Naismith, plus his assistants Frankie McAvoy and Gordon Forrest, have been axed. Just like Robbie Neilson and Daniel Stendel before him, the 38-year-old's last act was a damaging defeat by St Mirren. Hearts B team head coach Liam Fox has been placed in temporary charge.

The termination of contracts only renewed a matter of weeks ago will now doubt vex chief executive Andrew McKinlay and his fellow directors. Hearts' fall from grace under Naismith this season has been swift and spectacular. They did not end last season particularly well but their chief ambition had already been accomplished. Naismith guided Hearts to a third-placed finish and league-phase European football by April. His first season in charge was a success.

The same cannot be said of the 2024/25 campaign. While it started brightly enough with a 0-0 draw at home to Rangers, with the performance widely praised, Hearts fell off a cliff thereafter. A 3-1 defeat by Dundee was followed up by a poor 2-0 loss against Championship side Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup. Further domestic reversals have followed against Dundee United, Motherwell, Celtic and then St Mirren, and they failed to land a glove on Czech side Plzen in a winnable Europa League play-off.

McKinlay was in the stands at the SMiSA Stadium to witness first-hand another limp attacking performance from Hearts and the reaction of an irate fanbase. The calls for Naismith to "get tae ****" that rang around the away end on 75 minutes pierced the Renfrewshire air and were a knife into the side of the embattled head coach. At that moment, one sensed he needed Hearts to score in the final stages of the match to save his job. It never looked likely.

Naismith put up a fight in his post-match interview, saying he still believed he could turn it around. He also said he was "realistic" about where the team is right now. The facts are tough reading for the former Hearts player: eight straight defeats, one win in 15, a cup exit to lesser-ranked opposition. Critics were starting to pile in on the team's lack of identity, with Naismith constantly changing personnel and formations. The evidence against him became overwhelming.

As McKinlay said in his statement announcing Naismith's exit, football changes quickly. The Hearts board felt compelled to give him and his coaching staff fresh, improved contracts last month, aware that some clubs in England were keeping tabs on the young coach's progress. Hindsight suggests that was a costly mistake, although at the time it was hard to argue with the work Naismith had done.

Recruitment this season was done early. Hearts poached some of the best Premiership performers outside of the Old Firm last season in Yan Dhanda, Blair Spittal and James Penrice. Only the latter gets pass marks. The Central and South American markets were mined through the arrivals of Gerald Taylor and Andres Salazar, but neither have adapted well to the Scottish game.

The biggest failing was the lack of forward recruits. While nobody reckoned last season's poster boy Lawrence Shankland would be goalless in late September, his form has nosedived. There is not enough quality to replicate even some of the 31 goals he plundered last season. Hearts have only netted three times this term. With Shankland out of sorts early on in the campaign, more should have been done to land another forward in the closing weeks of the transfer window. In his final interviews, Naismith admitted his attack was not functioning properly.

Naismith leaves after 17 months in charge. A third-placed finish and two cup semi-finals is a more than respectable haul for such a young head coach. He presided over two wins against Celtic and masterminded a derby triumph over Hibs at Easter Road, although that was his only success over their capital rivals. Less than a year ago, his credentials were questioned, only to go on a strong winning run from mid-December to run away with third place. This season, though, the competition is fiercer, the league stronger. Hearts have paid the price for that.

Naismith always spoke with honesty and clarity. He carried himself well. There is little doubt another club will call for him, but the Hearts board could not ignore the results. This is a time of flux within Tynecastle. Graeme Jones has just come in to replace Joe Savage as sporting director. Hearts are in talks with Brighton chairman Tony Bloom over a tie-up worth potentially £10 million that will allow them access to their fabled Starlizard player database. Being bottom of the league does not mirror Hearts' ambitions.

A lot of soul-searching will come from an under-performing squad. Where the club turns to next is the key. Domestically, experienced duo Derek McInnes (Kilmarnock) and Stephen Robinson (St Mirren) will no doubt come into the conversation given their successes last season. Further down the leagues, Scott Brown is doing well at Ayr but his Hibs and Celtic connections would be hard to swallow. John McGlynn - a former Hearts boss - is doing a fantastic job at Falkirk. The Tynecastle top job will be a popular one. Numerous applications are bound to come in.

Ross County at home comes next, followed by a Conference League tie in Azerbaijan against Dinamo Minsk and then a trip to Aberdeen. On the pitch, Hearts need to win fast. Off the pitch, the board must find the man capable of getting the club back to where it was only a matter of months ago.