Who has the heart to fill Gorgie gap?

RECENT times have seen Hearts fans spoiled in a sense, with their club guided to varying degrees of success by managers who were as emotionally attached to Tynecastle as they were. Alex McDonald, Jim Jefferies, Craig Levein. All fall into this category.

Many would argue that John Robertson is also worthy of inclusion for his exploits this season, overseeing an unprecedented victory in Basel and participating in the semi-finals of both national cup competitions. Robertson himself has been at pains to stress these achievements, as well as the recent victory at Celtic Park, since being backed into a corner on Monday by certain Hearts directors and forced to hand over his manager’s tracksuit in order to scramble clear.

With Robertson gone, the future in Gorgie is about as clear as the fug that sporadically engulfs the area from its nearby distillery. The only thing supporters can be certain of is that the days of worshipping a local hero are over, with club owner Vladimir Romanov seeking an experienced head coach and director of football from outside Scotland to begin the era of the Lithuanians in earnest.

It is apparent that Romanov craves a time-served campaigner with European clout to take Hearts forward, but the club’s former striker Gordon Durie, pictured right, will be peering between his fingers as Robertson’s replacement is unveiled in a manager’s chair which seems to have an aura all of its own, and one which only those of a certain denomination can appreciate.

It was Jefferies who lured Durie along the M8 in September 2000 after the former Scotland internationalist had parted company with Rangers, and no-one who played under the 1998 Cup-winning manager failed to appreciate what Hearts stood for.

"The fans are clearly disappointed Robbo has left and if somebody comes in who doesn’t have Hearts at heart, so to speak, then they will be under immense pressure to produce the goods," said Durie. "The Lithuanians must have someone lined up having let Robbo leave and the support will be looking to see exactly who it is. If it’s not a Hearts man I’m sure they’ll be disappointed.

"If the new owners wanted a Hearts man then they had the perfect person already at the helm in John Robertson. It’s obvious they are not going to go down that route and I expect either a foreign head coach or a so-called big name from down south. I think they will have a coach in mind but he is going to be up against it simply because the man all the Hearts fans wanted has just left."

Intense speculation over Robertson’s future led to Monday’s fateful meeting with chief executive Phil Anderton. It was to be his final assignment as manager, but as news filtered through to Durie’s home in Fife that his former Scotland colleague had parted company with the club he still found himself requiring a second take. "I’m disappointed it has happened to Robbo in view of what he is to Hearts. You don’t really know the full story of what’s gone on inside the club but to me it was a shock decision when I heard it," added Durie.

"A lot of people have pointed out that Hearts would probably not be playing at Tynecastle if Romanov hadn’t come in. They would be playing at Murrayfield instead, so it’s swings and roundabouts in a way.

"I know the Hearts fans are disappointed at Robbo going, but they should be delighted at being able to stay at their own ground. Hopefully they can move on and have finances there to take them forward, although I had hoped Hearts could have progressed with John Robertson as manager."

The discarding of the club’s record goalscorer appears a reckless act on the part of board members when his six-month tenure is examined against the initiation period of his predecessor, Craig Levein. Levein moved from Cowdenbeath to become Hearts manager in December 2000. Five months and 20 league games later at the end of the season Hearts sat fifth in the SPL, 14 points behind third-placed Hibs. Robertson’s time at the helm began in November 2004 and after 24 league matches he was sacked with Hearts also in fifth place, and only 11 points behind third-placed Hibs.

Levein, of course, was permitted to continue and structure a side which would go on to rightly acclaim the undisputable status of Scotland’s third force. That Robertson was denied the same right having had an almost identical level of success is disturbing.

It is clear that the exhausting blow of losing Levein to Leicester City just as the campaign in the group stages of the UEFA Cup was properly getting underway is one Hearts have still to fully recover from. Yet there were signs at the time of Levein’s departure that could have hastened his exit, none more so than the imminent Eastern European influx.

Hearts’ scoring record of just two league goals away from home up until the point when Levein was heading for the exit door would not have been a particularly persuasive tool to convince the former manager to turn back, and therefore the proposition that Levein sensed his side wasn’t quite capable of reaching previous heights is not an entirely unreasonable one.

If only a Hearts man is capable of taking on Levein and Robertson’s legacy, the options are decidedly slim. Durie added: "I think it’s a similar situation to what happened with the Scotland national team where we needed someone who had a feeling for the job and we got that in Walter Smith. I’m always one who would advocate bringing through your own players and managers, and I think the Hearts fans will be the same.

"My brother is a massive Hearts supporter and he is working offshore at the moment, so he has been phoning me for updates on Robbo’s situation. He’s really disappointed to have lost Robbo. My only hope is that something good can come out of it."

Taken from the Scotsman