June 25 (Reuters) - Heart of Midlothian have appointed Wouter Vrancken as new head coach on a two-year deal, replacing Derek McInnes who left earlier this month to join Rangers, the Scottish Premiership club said on Thursday.
• Vrancken, 47, a two-time Belgian manager of the year, arrives after a one-year spell at Sint-Truiden, where he oversaw 45 matches and guided the side to a third-place finish in the Belgian league.
• The former midfielder began his managerial career in Belgium’s lower leagues before returning to the top flight as an assistant at KV Kortrijk, later managing KV Mechelen for nearly four years and overseeing 320 games across four Belgian clubs during his career.
• He will succeed McInnes, 54, who led Hearts to second place in the Scottish Premiership, finishing eight points clear of Rangers.
• Vrancken now takes on the responsibility of leading Hearts’ title push after last season’s near-miss, when they looked set to become the first club other than Celtic or Rangers to win the Scottish title since Aberdeen in 1985 before a 3-1 final-day defeat by Celtic ended their challenge.
(Reporting by Paras J. Haji in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
