BONE IDOL

John salutes 'faither' Jimmy but warns Jags No.2 that his tea's out Partick Thistle v Hearts

By Gary Ralston

HEARTS boss John Robertson has told old pal Jimmy Bone to get the kettle on for Partick Thistle being knocked out the Scottish Cup.

Robertson was taught everything he needed to know about surviving in Scottish football by Bone and all it cost him was his skill with the teapot.

The smile that usually spreads itself so freely across the face of Robertson made a welcome return to Tynecastle yesterday.

Takeover talks that have become a tiring side-show were put to one side, for a few minutes at least, as football again dominated discussions.

The corridors under the Main Stand of the old ground echoed to laughter as Robertson recalled a time when his biggest concern was remembering what his strike pal took in his favourite brew.

Robertson arrived at Tynecastle in1979when Bobby Moncur signed him, Gary Mackay and Dave Bowman as a trio of ambitious kids.

He soon proved his worth as a striker with the help of Bone, a gnarled journeyman of the Scottish scene who taught his apprentice every trick in the book, in return for his services as a personal assistant.

Robertson said: 'Jimmy was the man who brought on my apprenticeship as a striker and taught me how to look after myself on the pitch.

'With my size and physique, centre-halfs could have been intimidating and used it against me if I didn't look after myself.

'He taught me how to do all that and how to let defenders know they were in a game.He was fantastically tough to play against and fantastic to play with and he played a huge part in my development as a footballer.

'In return I was his boot boy,tea boy and even ran the bath for him when we shared rooms on overnights with the team.

'I still know he takes milk and two sugars but hopefully he'll be making it for us after the game.

'I also referred to him as 'faither' because he was in the veteran stages of his career. However, he always maintained he was only six years older than me and given the strength of his right and left hook I'm happy to go along with that.

'He has been a tremendous mentor,not only as a player but also as a coach,and I was allowed to tap into the knowledge of him and Alex Smith when they were at Ross County and I was at Inverness.

'I was the youngest of the four, including Donald Park, and although there might have been rivalries between the fans none existed between the management.

'I'm surprised County let Jimmy go but their loss is ultimately the gain of Partick Thistle.

'It's always fantastic when an ex-player goes back to his former club and Jimmy, of course, scored one of the goals when Thistle won the 1931League Cup final.'

That's no misprint, but Robertson's humour at its impish best, and although it is only seven years since Hearts last won the Scottish Cup, Robertson was deadly serious when he called on his players to trouble the latter stages of the competition again.

He knows he couldn't have it tougher than a trip to Maryhill, with Thistle facing their first game under Dick Campbell and Bone and the club looking on the up after a depressing first six months of the season.

Robertson added:'Thistle have had an erratic season by their standards and after changes at the top John Lambie instilled some confidence with a couple of great results.

'Now they've been boosted by two coaches I respect enormously and Dick and Jimmy are both great motivators and the players will know what they want as they'll be told to their faces.'

It was too good to last and the talk soon gave way to takeovers and budgets as Robertson outlined the cuts he will be forced to make, maybe even if the Vladimir Romanov deal gets the go-ahead.

Hearts held yesterday's press conference at Tynecastle, perhaps keen to keep prying media eyes away from Riccarton, where a group of eastern Europeans are being put through their paces in a training camp by Anatoly Byshovets.

They were due to play their first game against a Hearts youth select yesterday but the only time Robertson came close to bristling was when asked of their presence.

He said:'We're here to talk about the Scottish Cup.We might be looking at them but we're also looking at our own players at the moment.'

So what's the best--case scenario for Robbo and the club in the months ahead?

He didn't bat an eyelid as he said: 'Six numbers on the National Lottery.'

Unfortunately, that's one thing you cannot put the kettle on for taking place.

Taken from the Daily Record