Freedman keen on Hearts job

Crystal Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman is keen on the vacant Hearts job as he eyes a move back to his native Scotland. Reports in the Evening Standard in London say the Eagles’ respected sporting director is interested in the managerial job at Tynecastle and would like to be considered for the role.
Hearts sacked Craig Levein last month and placed Austin MacPhee in temporary charge after a poor run of results left them in the bottom half of the Scottish Premiership table. Saturday’s 5-2 home win over bottom-placed St Mirren was a welcome relief but they remain down in ninth place, just three points clear of the Buddies.
The Edinburgh-based outfit are on the lookout for a new full-time boss and Freedman, who was a candidate to take over there in 2017 before returning to Palace in his current role, is believed to be on their shortlist.
It is claimed the 45-year-old wants Palace to give the green light to Hearts to make an official approach, even though there are other names in the frame. Former Motherwell, Preston, Derby and Nottingham Forest boss Billy Davies and experienced German coach Felix Magath, who was in charge of Fulham for an unsuccessful year in 2014, are also reportedly in the running as Hearts weigh up their options.
Some Palace fans have become frustrated with Freedman’s role in recent transfer windows as Aaron Wan-Bissaka was allowed to join Manchester United in the summer without a replacement being signed, while Wilfried Zaha also made it clear he wanted out of Selhurst Park but the club ended up rejecting significant offers from Everton and Arsenal to keep the winger.
Boss Roy Hodgson admitted he had failed to land some of his transfer targets and now Freedman may be set to leave in what would mean a behind-the-scenes reshuffle at the club should Hearts try to appoint him.
Freedman is a Palace playing legend, having scored 55 goals in over 200 appearances in two separate spells between 1997 and 2008 and was first-team boss for a 21-month period between January 2011-October 2012 before going on to manage Bolton and Forest.