Hearts to land their man

Paul Kiddie

HEARTS were today closing in on fans favourite John Robertson as the man to replace Craig Levein - with the Gorgie legend set to be installed at Tynecastle tomorrow.

Inverness Caley Thistle have received an official approach from the Tynecastle club for their boss and will not stand in his way of a dream return to the Jambos, providing a suitable compensation package can be thrashed out.

As we revealed in Saturday’s Pink, Hearts chairman George Foulkes insisted the club would pull out all the stops to have the new man in place before the crunch UEFA Cup clash with Schalke at Murrayfield on Thursday and the wheels have already been set in motion to resolve the compensation issue for both Robertson and his No.2 in the Highlands, Donald Park.

Providing there are no unforeseen hitches, both men should be unveiled as the new Gorgie "dream team" within the next 24 hours.

The Tynecastle board met on Saturday ahead of the SPL clash with Dundee to discuss the vacant post and are set to rubber-stamp the appointment of the club’s record goalscorer to the hot seat at a routine board meeting this evening.

"We are working as quickly as possible to get the right person in place," said Foulkes. "If at all possible that would be before the important series of games coming up, starting with Schalke on Thursday."

Robertson has underlined his credentials as a manager by doing a superb job in his first such role at Inverness since succeeding Steve Paterson.

He won promotion to the SPL last season and has successfully steered Caley Thistle off the bottom of the table in recent weeks, Saturday’s 2-0 triumph over Livingston at Pittodrie seeing them climb into ninth spot.

While the appointment of Robertson will be a decision made by the Hearts board, prospective new owner Vladimir Romanov gave the thumbs-up to his arrival in a weekend conversation with Foulkes.

"The board are making the decision, not Mr Romanov," said the Jambos chairman. "We have consulted with him and Anatoly Byshovets but ultimately it’s our choice.

"Aside from anything, he doesn’t have an intimate knowledge of the candidates.

"But the person who is appointed can be assured that he will get the job without any threat hanging over him because of a change of ownership.

"We are not looking for a short-term fix - we are looking for a man to take this club forward."

He added: "Mr Romanov has an exciting vision for Hearts and he is willing to put the resources in for us to challenge Celtic and Rangers in Scottish football, to play in a good stadium with a good team.

"He has indicated that he is able to fund that kind of vision and what we want to do is get a manager in who matches that ambition."

Foulkes also stressed that the departure of Levein, regarded as one of Hearts’ top assets before his surprise appointment as Leicester boss, has not diluted in any way Romanov’s desire to plough millions into the Gorgie club when he takes over next month.

"That is certainly not the case," he said.

Robertson was backed for the Hearts job by outgoing boss Levein and his No.2 at Tynecastle, Peter Houston, who will start work at the Walkers Stadium today as Leicester City’s first-team coach, says the pair are more than willing to give the incoming manager as much help as he needs in the build-up to the crunch Schalke encounter.

"Schalke are a very good side who have a top player in Ailton," said Houston, who said farewell to Hearts with a 3-0 win over Dundee on Saturday.

"He scored a lot of goals for Werder Bremen last season and needs to be watched. But if the new man needs our help on them we will be more than happy to pass on all the info we have because we want Hearts to be a success.

"I think they can do it and you have to think that two home wins in this group would send them to the last 32.

"I have watched Ferencvaros and have seen chinks in their armour. If Hearts go into the last game against them needing three points I would put my mortgage on them getting them."

He added: "I would trust the players at this club with anything. The new man - and I hope it is Robbo because he would be perfect - will inherit a group of players who will work their socks off. They will never let him down through lack of effort and then can deal with pressure.

"The fans will be looking closely at how any boss starts but the difference for Robbo is that he will get time because of what he has done in the past at the club. He has a Hearts background, great football knowledge and now experience as a boss as well."

Taken from the Scotsman