Strikers are the priority as Burley sets Hearts ticking

THERE was George, and George, in Gorgie. And Phil was there too, of course, just in case things got too confusing. The weeks of deliberating and the negotiating were finally over for Hearts. Burley was in.

Not too promptly, though. In keeping with the whole protracted saga of recruiting a new manager for the Tynecastle club, the assembled media ignored their rumbling stomachs for more than 45 minutes awaiting the start of last night's tea-time press conference before Messrs Foulkes and Anderton wheeled in their new man.

Burley took his seat having knotted his new Hearts tie just moments earlier, and the cameras flashed and reflected uncontrollably off his tanned skin, freshly topped up on his recent holiday in Majorca. With his Mediterranean leisure time over, the hard work now begins.

Burley fronted up at Riccarton this morning to meet with Hearts coaching staff. During the discussions he detailed his intentions for the club and their futures, but his unavoidable priority must be to supplement the club's threadbare strikeforce which currently has only Dennis Wyness and Graham Weir, below right, as the recognised first-team forwards who are under contract.

He has the plans, he has the money, but will he secure the net-bulgers he, and the Tynecastle support, desire? If his exemplary recruiting abilities at former clubs Ipswich Town and Derby County are yardsticks with which to judge him, then the answer will more than likely be yes.

Take Grzegorz Rasiak, for example. Burley brought the Polish international attacker to Pride Park a year ago. He was a nobody, he cost nothing, arriving from Italian club Siena, and then went on to claim 16 goals to lift Derby into the Championship play-offs.

At Portman Road, he managed to convince Dutch internationalist Martijn Reuser to swap the glamorous Amsterdam Arena for leafy Suffolk, and was rewarded with the kind of creative influence and goalscoring technique that makes Dutch footballers revered worldwide.

It is those sort of signings that feed Burley's reputation. A few more over the coming weeks would do nicely. "The club is definitely short in the striking department," admitted the new manager, "Certainly that is an area I will look to strengthen. I want to look at the strikers who are here closely and then go from there.

"We will definitely have to bring in six or seven players. It will be that many, which is not going to be easy in such a short space of time but that is something I have to deal with. Supporters are important at every club and I want them to believe in this. If you don't have the fans you don't have anything at a football club."

Burley makes no bones about his initial hesitation in lending his signature to Vladimir Romanov's paper. This newspaper commented yesterday on his studious manner when it comes to football, and he has investigated thoroughly the possible pitfalls of managing Hearts as well as the likely peaks that could enhance his reputation yet further.

In his 49 years Burley has learned to avoid judging books by their covers. Instead he reads every word, front to back. In assessing Hearts as employers, he wanted simply to tick all the boxes. Ambition was the central factor, then came money, potential and facilities. Once he was the clear on those, then advice was sought from outside sources, Sir Bobby Robson being the guest speaker.

"You have look at what you're taking on and, having been at Ipswich and Derby, I feel I have accepted another big challenge and a realistic challenge to further my career," said Burley. "Opportunities like that sometimes don't surface for six months or a year but this happened very quickly.

"It's something that I had to speak to a number of people about. Phil Anderton is a very ambitious man and I went over to Lithuania to meet with Mr Romanov. Hearts have been very clear in their ambition.

"I had to be clear in my mind that the club were going in the correct direction and that it was possible for me to take them forward and get back into Europe. I want new faces, I want to build the club up from top to bottom. I want to work at the academy with the young players and bring them through."

The above details are more than enough to fill Burley's working week in Edinburgh, where he will live in rented accommodation while his wife and daughter remain at the family home in Ipswich. Mrs Burley will attempt to catch up on the number of air miles clocked up by her husband in recent weeks by jetting to the Capital every weekend to take in a Hearts' match and spend time with her spouse.

The exact same set-up worked well for the Burleys at Derby, so Hearts fans on tenterhooks and fearing an "I can't settle" headline from Burley a few months down the line need not fret.

Burley continued: "My wife will come to all the games, so I'll see her at weekends and I'll go back down south whenever I get the chance. We had a similar situation at Derby and it works for us because sometimes when you have lived in an area for so long you don't want to move." Burley's wife harboured a strong hope that he would take a little sabbatical from football after he resigned from Derby, and the man himself admits Hearts' initial advances were greeted with only a meagre, lukewarm response. However, lukewarm became searing hot in Vilnius on Tuesday when Romanov revealed his intentions to the Scot.

"The new regime and their ambition was a big factor. It was a fresh challenge for me because there is no doubt that it has been a difficult time at Hearts recently. They almost sold the ground, they had a poor season playing-wise and finished too far behind even fourth position never mind third.

"After my conversations with Phil and Mr Romanov I'm convinced they mean business and they want to take the club forward. There is potential for success here, and if we are doing well there is no reason why we should not be able to fill this ground. It's not always a great atmosphere at Tynecastle but it is one to look forward to."

As Burley laid his head on his hotel pillow late last night, after a momentous day in his footballing life, he might have allowed himself to dream a little of what may become of his two years in Edinburgh.

And Hearts fans should remember... dreams can come true, you know.

Taken from the Scotsman