Pressley ignores Nicholas jibes

WHEN Hearts captain Steven Pressley agreed to sign a new two-year contract recently, John Robertson hailed it as a pivotal moment for the club. The erstwhile head coach cannot have imagined that eight weeks later Pressley would replace him, albeit in an interim capacity.

The defender takes charge for the first time tomorrow as Celtic visit Tynecastle looking for three points to keep them on course for a second successive championship.

It’s a testing introduction to management for Pressley, who along with reserve and youth team coach John McGlynn will oversee team affairs for the remainder of the season following the dismissal this week of Robertson. As if their jobs weren’t difficult enough, the pair have had to contend with a vitriolic attack on their reputations by Charlie Nicholas.

The striker-turned-pundit penned a poisonous piece in which he dismissed Pressley as a player, cast doubt on his ability to organise the team and branded him a member of the "Scotland mafia". Nicholas, a stern but fair critic of the national side during Berti Vogts’ time in charge, has hardly endeared himself to the Scotland squad, but his attack on Pressley smacked of personal score-settling.

He was equally disparaging of McGlynn, who he claimed not to have heard of, despite the coach having spent the last nine seasons at Tynecastle during which time he helped nurture players such as Allan Johnston, Gary Naysmith, Paul Ritchie, Scott Severin and Craig Gordon.

Nicholas’ ignorance of McGlynn perhaps say more about him than it does the Hearts coach, who said he had not seen the former Celtic striker’s tabloid column.

"I haven’t read the article and I’m not going to," said McGlynn, who was a modest player but is highly thought of as a coach. "I’m focused on the job I’ve been asked to do and I don’t want to get wound up by something that appears in a paper.

"I can understand that if you’re not a [well known] player it can be very hard to be accepted. But I’ve worked very hard to get where I am and I’ve had to put up with this sort of stuff all the way. It just makes you more determined."

Pressley was less inclined to be drawn into the debate but insisted there was no history of animosity between him and Nicholas.

"People are entitled to their opinions," the Hearts skipper said. "I’ve no concern about it, my concern is this football club.

"John McGlynn’s done a fantastic job with the young players here. Over the last five to ten years this club has produced some fantastic young players and two of the current Scotland squad [Naysmith and Gordon] have come through our youth system."

While Pressley and McGlynn’s appointment is temporary and covers only tomorrow’s game and the final match of the season against Aberdeen next weekend, both are relishing the chance to take control.

"It’s certainly a great experience for me at 31 to take over the managerial post along with John," said Pressley. "We’re only in charge for the short-term but in terms of experience for the future it’s been ideal. I’m very proud to be in this position, as John is, and it shows that the current board of directors have faith in us which is encouraging."

The centre-half has made no secret of his ambition to manage the club one day and he already has an SFA coaching licence and is looking to add a UEFA qualification. But with a new playing contract agreed, Pressley is expected to be a mainstay of the Hearts defence for few more seasons yet and will certainly play tomorrow.

However, it would be no surprise if he had a more enhanced role in the new management set-up being planned by the Hearts board which will be led by a head coach and a director of football. Vladimir Romanov, the Lithuanian with a controlling interest in the club, was expected in Edinburgh to take in the game with Celtic but has postponed the trip due to other business commitments.

Depending on the outcome of Rangers’ game with Motherwell today, Celtic could win the title at Tynecastle, but Pressley is more concerned with Hearts ending the season on a high.

"Our one concern is finishing the season in a positive manner. We still could have a bearing not just on the league title but also the final UEFA Cup place, and it’s vitally important for ourselves and out supporters that we go out and play in a professional manner and look to win both our remaining games."

After a difficult week in which the removal of a club legend as manager stirred up fresh supporter unrest, Hearts will be happy to see the back of a campaign which has been characterised by public relations disasters. They defeated Celtic in the league as recently as last month but have not won since, and it would take a supreme effort to defeat the champions once more given the turmoil that has engulfed the club in recent days.

Taken from the Scotsman