Karipidis: Frail must stay
by Brian Etherson, 13 May 2008
Hearts defender Christos Karipidis has called upon the club to make big changes for next season, but he told Vladimir Romanov that Stevie Frail should not be one of them.
The Gorgie club were in crisis earlier in the season when they dropped to 11th place in The SPL, prompting fury amongst the supporters.
Dark clouds soon gathered over Tynecastle with a highly publicised bust-up between players and management during the embarrassing 4-0 defeat to Rangers in February.
"We need to try to change something for Hearts next season. This is a big club in Scotland, we must do something to change things here,” Karapidis told The Evening News.
“We must keep big players who have a strong character, and others must come in. If you want to challenge for the top three, you must have these players.
“I think any new players who come must make a big difference. It's no use players coming like the ones Hearts already have. I think two or three better players would help us.
“Stevie must speak about things with the president. It is the president who organises everything here, which players come and which manager comes.
“I don't know how Shaggy (Frail) will feel if a new manager comes here. If you ask me, I want Shaggy to stay. He knows everything about Hearts and has worked with the young players.
“I don't know the situation. For me, I'm happy with Shaggy. He tries to keep the confidence up and the players happy. We enjoy training and everyone knows about Stevie. He loves this team. We have had some good results under him but not enough for the top six.”