Club's future on the pitch is in safe hands, insists Levein

GRAHAM BEAN

WHILE the exploits of Hibs’ young players have dominated the headlines recently, Hearts coach Craig Levein was eager yesterday to sing the praises of his own fledglings as youth prepares to take on youth in the third Edinburgh league derby of the season.

Levein admits to being "jealous" of his rivals’ achievement in reaching the CIS Insurance Cup final earlier this month, but with Andy Webster and Craig Gordon already firmly established in the Hearts first-team, and Robert Sloan and Joe Hamill knocking on the door, the coach has high hopes for the future of the club, provided the young players are given time to develop.

What he doesn’t want to see at Easter Road tomorrow is a repeat of Wednesday night when Sloan and Hamill bore the brunt of the fans’ frustration as Hearts laboured to a 1-0 victory over Aberdeen at Tynecastle. While impressed by the progress the pair have made this season, Levein feels they are more introverted than the likes of Webster, Gordon and youngsters at Hibs such as Scott Brown and Derek Riordan.

It is Sloan and Hamill’s misfortune that they’re breaking through at a time of great turmoil at the club, with large numbers of Hearts fans eager to express their opposition to the board’s plan to sell Tynecastle for housing and relocate to Murrayfield.

"A lot of people are unhappy and they are turning up angry to see Hearts," Levein admitted. "I’ve got quite a thick skin and so have the likes of Steven Pressley, Alan Maybury and Phil Stamp, but there is a very small element giving out stick to the young boys, who are quiet and more sensitive to it.

"Graham Weir and Webster are every bit as outgoing as the likes of Riordan and Brown, but Hamill and Sloan are different animals and I don’t want to push them too hard.

"I have seen an improvement, especially with Sloan in terms of his workrate, and hopefully my patience with him and Hamill will be rewarded.

"We’ve got lots of young players in the team now and they’re the future of the club.

"To be fair, it’s something Hearts have been synonymous with for a few years now. When I arrived as a player the likes of John Robertson were in the first team, then we had players breaking through like Alan McLaren and Scott Crabbe and it’s carried on with people such as Allan Johnston, Paul Ritchie, Gary Naysmith and Scott Severin."

With Alan Maybury unlikely to play tomorrow because of injury, and Patrick Kisnorbo also suffering discomfort with a dead leg, Levein was alarmed yesterday to discover Stamp was also carrying an injury. "It’s a concern because we desperately want him fit for the derby," the coach admitted.

The burly midfielder made a stunning impression on his derby debut last season when he scored an injury-time winner at Easter Road and was then sent off for an over-zealous celebration. He’s confident he will be fit to face Hibs this weekend and expects a battle as Hearts chase a place in next season’s UEFA Cup.

"It will be close - derby games always are - but the lads are confident," Stamp said. "This is a really big month for us; we’re five points clear in third place with a game in hand so the next four or five games are vital."

Given that it’s 11 years since Hearts qualified for Europe in consecutive seasons, hanging on to third place in such a turbulent campaign would be a commendable achievement.

Taken from the Scotsman