Offers made to Hearts trio

HEARTS may be without a permanent manager heading into their last game of the season, but the Edinburgh club have continued planning for the next campaign after offering new contracts to Joe Hamill, Graham Weir and Mark Burchill.

Burchill, the striker who moved to Hearts from Portsmouth during the January transfer window, and winger Hamill are believed to have been offered a one-year extension to their contracts, while Weir, who started last week's 2-1 defeat to Celtic, will mull over a deal which would run to the end of the year.

Interim joint-head coach John McGlynn told the club's website: "That group have done well this season, and so we've offered them new contracts. It is now up to them to decide if they see their future as being here with us at Hearts."

Hearts also confirmed yesterday, however, that a batch of players will leave the club at the end of the season.

Phil Stamp, Ramon Pereira, Tepi Moilanen, Kevin McKenna, Patrick Kisnorbo, Neil Janczyk, David McGoewn, Conall Murtagh, Ryan Kennedy and Ryan Gray have been released from their contracts, and McGlynn added: "It is hard to tell these players, particularly the young ones, that they won't be at the club next season, but there are sometimes hard decisions to make and we've done that."

Hearts' other interim coach, Steven Pressley, is suspended for tomorrow's trip to Aberdeen after being sent off against Celtic last week and so will have to watch the match from the stand. "During the 90 minutes, everything will be John's call," said Pressley. "I'll come down from the stand at half-time and try and advise him then."

Pressley has no qualms about playing Lee Miller, even though the striker is in talks with Aberdeen about a move north. "Lee's a very good professional and has been superb in handling the difficulties he's had over the last couple of weeks in terms of his contractual problems," he added.

Taken from the Scotsman