Champions League winner Benni McCarthy admits he is planning to put his name forward for the Hearts manager’s job for a second time.
The former Porto and Blackburn Rovers striker, who lives in Edinburgh, claimed back in December that he made it down to the final three before the Gorgie side opted for Daniel Stendel in the dugout.
And now the 42-year-old is waiting to see what the future holds for Stendel after the German’s contract effectively ended when the Tynecastle club were relegated from the Premiership last month.
McCarthy, whose only previous job in management came to an end last November at Cape Town City in his native South Africa, said: “In Scotland, Hearts have gone down. We will monitor that. “We will see if the German guy will stay or not.
“I’ll put myself back there as well. It is the club that is down the road from where I live. It will be ideal for me to stay close to the family.”
Speaking to the South African Football Journalist’s Association, he added: “A return to South Africa is also not off the table. It must be the right club. It must a project where I am able to work with people. They must have the same goals and ambitions as me.”
McCarthy, who won the Champions League with Jose Mourinho’s Porto in 2004, has previously spent time in an informal coaching role at Hibs under Alan Stubbs’ stewardship and claimed four years ago he would return to the club as part of Neil Lennon’s coaching set-up.
Speaking at the time, he said: “For now I will probably go to Hibs and work with a coach and a friend I worked with at Celtic a few years ago.”
