Liam Fox fights back tears as he leaves Hearts after a gutsy win at Kilmarnock.

Derek McInnes’ arrival will usher in a new era for the Edinburgh club.

Liam Fox fought back tears as his time at Hearts came to an end with the season-ending 1-0 victory over Kilmarnock. Fox won every game as Tynecastle’s interim head coach over the last four matches of the season, but he will now be replaced by Derek McInnes and his coaching staff.

Stephen Kingsley’s 88th-minute winner settled the game at Rugby Park, giving 10-man Hearts three points to finish seventh in the Premiership. Despite being numerically disadvantaged due to Yan Dhanda’s red card in the first half, Fox and the players were pleased with the victory. As Fox, a childhood Hearts fan, prepared to retire, the travelling fans sang his name at full time.
He began his playing and coaching career at Riccarton, where he has taken interim control of the first team twice this season. In total, he has won five of seven games in charge and leaves with his head held high. He burst into tears and struggled to control his emotions during the post-match media conference.

“I’d like to express my gratitude to all of the supporters. I felt they helped us get through. “Many thanks to them,” he said through teary eyes. “I’m disappointed to be leaving, but I believe I can help anyone. That is fine, rather than looking, being disappointed, and bitter. We will move on. We’ll see what comes up. I’m excited to see what comes next, whatever it is and wherever it may be.

Derek McInnes joins Hearts after Fox stabilised the Tynecastle ship in the Scottish Premiership.

Hearts fired Neil Critchley at the end of last month, and first-team coach Fox took over to oversee victories over Ross County, Motherwell, and St Johnstone at Kilmarnock. He expressed his own satisfaction with the run of results prior to McInnes’ arrival. “Yes, great pride. Again, it’s most likely something I’ll reflect on in the coming weeks and days,” he said. “At the moment, I’m on cloud nine after leaving the football club. So, as I previously stated, I’m choosing to view the situation positively.

“Whoever gets me next has had both difficult and positive experiences. But I’m grateful for all of it, and it will help me become a better person and coach. I believe the bug (for management) was always there. I was well aware that at some point, and I’ve been open and honest about it, I wanted to have the opportunity to do so. I believe that when you have had a difficult experience, it is natural to withdraw. And I took advantage of my time at Dundee United, which was not without its difficulties.

“I believe that one of the benefits of returning to this football club was the opportunity to work with the B team, after which I went away and refined. I focused on how I wanted the team to function on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. So that became very clear, and it is what I believe in and want to do going forward. So that period was extremely enjoyable.

“That’s just growing as a person, an adult, a coach or manager, whatever you want to call it. So that was a really good time. And it’s easy to sit here and say, “I’m desperate to go and do it after four victories.” Football management isn’t easy. So, we’ll see what happens.

“It is far from easy. I’m overjoyed today. Even if we had managed to get through the game and draw a conclusion based on how it went and how the players were, they just kept going, fighting, and battling. And to come away with three points is truly remarkable. I believe this is our 51st game of the season.

“We obviously had a few injuries, and we had people who were literally running on empty. So the players deserve a lot of credit for finishing with three points. I am overjoyed, and it is four wins in a row, which is difficult at any time of the season. I’m hoping it’s helped to turn a disappointing season into a reasonable positive.”

In addition to Dhanda’s red card, Hearts’ custodian Zander Clark suffered an injury in the first half. Ryan Fulton, his replacement, suffered a thigh injury in the second half and appeared to be on the verge of leaving. “You talk about football management, it’s never easy,” Fox said. “Zander obviously worked hard to regain fitness. I believe someone landed on him and injured him again. Ryan Fulton has a serious thigh problem.

“We were actually talking in the dugout about who would go on goal if we had to take Ryan Fulton out. Once again, it’s just football. It comes up with these things. But, once again, credit must go to the players for digging deep and Stephen Kingsley delivering a Stephen Kingsley moment when we needed it.”

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