Kris Boyd's BRUTAL takedown of Newcastle coach Ian Cathro

Heart of Midlothian want to appoint Cathro as Robbie Neilson's managerial successor at Tynecastle.

The Scottish Premiership club is in talks with Newcastle over a deal for the 30-year-old, who was recruited by Steve McClaren at the start of last season after spells working alongside Nuno at Valencia and Rio Ave.

However, former Rangers striker Boyd, now at Kilmarnock, feels Cathro would be "out of his depth" at Hearts, where he report to Craig Levein, the club's director of football.

Cathro previously worked with Levein at Dundee United.

Writing in the Scottish Sun, Boyd said: “He’s probably not been this excited since FIFA 17 came out on PlayStation.

“But Ian Cathro is about to find out what football’s like in the real world. No harm to the guy set to be named as Hearts boss. I was on the same Pro Licence course as Cathro, and he’s definitely obsessed with coaching.

“He’s one of the up-and-coming, modern-era coaches who can organise a session just by flicking open his laptop.

“There isn’t a session out there he couldn’t get on to his Macbook. But setting up a presentation to a group of players is all well and good.

“That does not require man management skills, which is part of the game he knows absolutely nothing about.

“Time will tell if I’m wrong on that. But if I was a Jambo I’d be worried.

“For me the practical stuff involved in coaching is easy — it’s dealing with highly-charged players that’s the hard part.

“And for me Cathro is way, way out of his depth.”

He added: "People go on about one of the reasons our game is in decline is too many youngsters spend too much time on their computers.

"But Cathro has shown that is maybe the best way into coaching in the modern era."

Boyd also speculated that Levein would take a more "hands-on" approach at Hearts should Cathro succeed Neilson.