Levein to judge Alan via video

GRAEME CROSER

HEARTS boss Craig Levein will wait until he surveys video evidence before passing judgment on defender Alan Maybury’s alleged swipe at Hibs’ Scott Brown.

The full-back appeared to lash out at Brown midway through the first half of yesterday’s Capital derby, a fiery contest which ended honours even at 1-1.

The flash-point incident was one of several in the game. Brown himself picked up a booking and the youngster could consider himself fortunate to remain on the park after a late challenge on Jambos skipper Steven Pressley.

Levein refused to condemn Maybury - who was sent off a week earlier in the Scottish Cup defeat to Celtic - and will wait until he has viewed a recording of the game before making any comment.

He said: "I am not going to speculate on anything I haven’t seen. I have to reserve judgment until I see the video."

The SFA could yet intervene in the matter following last week’s decision to investigate similar accusations against Rangers’ Fernando Ricksen. Television pictures appeared to show the Dutchman elbowing Derek Riordan during Hibs’ CIS Cup semi-final victory at Hampden and the SFA’s review panel decided that he has a case to answer. Ricksen will appear before the disciplinary committee next month.

Meanwhile, Hearts chief executive Chris Robinson claimed today he would not give up hope of finding a long-term alternative to moving to Murrayfield.

Robinson is pressing ahead with plans to uproot the club to the national rugby stadium this summer despite opposition from supporters and shareholders. But he is hoping to get planning permission to press ahead with plans to move to a new site in the Scottish capital.

"There’s no current alternative," said Robinson. "There are some plans on the desk at the moment but unfortunately we can’t get hold of the site the plans are for but we are always in discussions and I won’t be giving up on an alternative.

"Murrayfield is the option in the short term but this alternative would take two or three years to put in place."

The plans would mean moving three of the Tynecastle stands to a new site.

Robinson added: "The architect that built Tynecastle said three of the new stands could be dismounted. The main parts - the girders and the concrete - could be repositioned if we can find a site.

"He has shown us how that could be done but we are a long way off that and I wouldn’t like to give anyone any impression that that’s something that’s going to happen. As I found for the last three years getting the site is the hardest part. We have a site we think could work but we just can’t get our hands on it at the moment."

Taken from the Scotsman