Silence cuts no ice with Tynecastle great Slim

WITH Hearts directors presently displaying the same willingness to communicate as Trappist monks, the silence is deafening around Tynecastle. A new manager? How about a few new voice boxes first?

Cocking an ear against the door of the club's boardroom is likely to be a wasted effort if you are seeking news on John Robertson's replacement.

On that topic, lips are as tightly sealed as those barrels of ale trotted out by our esteemed brothers in the monastery.

Frustration is growing amongst supporters, who want answers from a board that effectively forced their idol out of the club by asking him to accept a demotion. Who the directors finger to take Robertson's place will go a long way to ascertaining how much confidence the fans place in them for next season.

"We are speculating, but there isn't much else to do just now such is the lack of information on offer," are the comments from Gorgie regulars after reeling off the usual list of suspects said to be in line for the revised role of head coach.

The fans' palpable irascibility is in line with the thoughts of former Hearts defender Dave McPherson after seeing his close friend and former team-mate Robertson out of a job.

It is almost four weeks since Robertson refused the assistant coach's position having been appointed as head coach just six months previously.

A clause in his contract allowed Hearts chief executive Phil Anderton to review the legendary former striker's role but Robertson's pride did not allow him to comply with the club's intentions.

McPherson's familiarity with life inside a football club, and Hearts in particular after two spells there as a player, allows him to empathise with the plight of the Tynecastle board in attempting to recruit the perfect candidate to replace Robertson whilst maintaining MI5-style secrecy.

However, the man whose nickname was "Slim" still harbours displeasure at the lack of communication with supporters.

"The directors have had enough time to look about and see who is available and target people, but I think the Hearts supporters want to see someone appointed now. Either that or we'll get left behind," he said.

"Everything regarding Hearts at the moment is a bit vague. Somebody has to come out and say something somewhere down the line, apart from that line about wanting to compete with Rangers and Celtic. There has been a lot of talk of them wanting to match the Old Firm.

"Now, at the moment, they are managerless and have lost a lot of players in the last few months. They need to sort that out first and get the basics right." McPherson has his own thoughts on who would be capable of building on Robertson's work, and that of Craig Levein before him, but they remain classified information. Much like the musings and actions of the directors in Gorgie.

Vladimir Romanov and the ever-increasing Lithuanian influence at Tynecastle would seem to hint at the favouring of a foreign body as the new head coach, with an eastern European already heavily quoted for the job in Valdas Ivanauskas, the coach who was sacked by Romanov at the other club in which he has invested heavily, FBK Kaunas, and who bizarrely then had his management credentials publicly endorsed by the Hearts owner.

McPherson does not, however, envisage great benefit in Hearts extending their recruitment drive outside the UK. "I think it is important they get somebody in place as soon as possible. I would personally like to see someone British come in, someone with a good track record who can take Hearts to another level.

"There are plenty of names that have been mentioned as we know, but it's really not for me to say who it should be."

With upwards of six potential signings lined up by Robertson before he and Anderton agreed to put his contract through the shredder, the laboured identification of his successor is having an injurious effect on Hearts' plans for next season.

Fans are still waiting and watching for a ray of colour to emanate from Tynecastle that would indicate Romanov's wallet being prised from his pocket.

"You can't get the players in with no-one to lead the team, so Hearts need their new man in place because it's a case of first things first," said McPherson.

Taken from the Scotsman