Craig Levein admits he understands Hearts' fans anger but insists he can turn around the club's dismal form.
The Jambos have only four Premiership wins in 2019 and none so far this season as they sit second bottom of the Premiership.
Following their last fixture, a 2-2 draw with Hamilton at Tynecastle, anger spilled over from the stands and a section of the support loudly called for Levein to go.
But the manager remains confident their predicament can be turned around, although concedes he's been around long enough to know when it's too late.
"I’ve been at the club for a long, long time. I’ve seen a lot of things happen," he told the Edinburgh Evening News .
"I’ve seen protests, quite a few of them, and I understand the supporters’ frustration at times when things don’t go the way they want. Myself, the coaches and players understand the expectations so we aren’t looking for praise when we aren’t doing well.
“We are all in a situation where we want the same things. We can obviously do something about it.
"The frustration for the supporters comes from the fact they can only sit in the stadium and shout for their team.
"Myself, the coaches and players are the ones who can actually do something. For me, that’s a privileged position to be in.
“The expectation levels at Hearts are high. If we draw at home to Hamilton and lose two goals, the supporters are not going to be happy and I'm not happy.
"I don’t expect to get praise when we aren’t doing what is expected. I get that and I understand the frustration. I’m not on a different wavelength to the supporters.
"We should be winning at home against Hamilton, without being disrespectful.
“Luckily, I’ve been in situations before when things are going poorly and I can’t see a situation that would improve it. This isn’t one of them."
Hearts face Motherwell this weekend and could be without as many as eight first team players.
Steven Naismith and Michael Smith are major doubts, while John Souttar and Joel Pereira remain out.
Long term absentees Jamie Walker, Ben Garuccio, Peter Haring and Craig Wighton are still unavailable.
