The Burley builder

SOMETIMES, all it takes for daydreams to become nightmares is for darkness to descend. For Hearts fans, the period of gloom has been akin to the never-ending Icelandic winter's nights. But the arrival of George Burley seems to herald a new dawn.

From the long-running stadium relocation fight to disgruntlement over boardroom personnel, and from the constant fear of poaching from bigger clubs to the on-field woe of watching rivals take a few steps forward as Hearts stumbled a few paces back, the past year would surely fit quite comfortably into the Hell on Earth category.

Even when new owner Vladimir Romanov arrived, growing doubts soon replaced initial relief. All but the most myopic fans pondered his motives while waiting for the white knight to deliver on his manifesto, with money promised to help peg back the Old Firm and restore a semblance of superiority in the capital.

It sounded nice in theory but would it ever become a reality?

Burley believes it will, and when asked whether he had shared the public's scepticism regards his new employer, he refused to sweeten the pill. "Definitely."

A man who had done his homework before meeting chief executive Phil Anderton, the former Ipswich and Derby boss knew all about the squad he would inherit, the facilities, the level of support and he knew all about the lingering misgivings.

"It was good for me to go to Lithuania and speak to Mr Romanov because I had to be able to look him in the eye and have some sort of relationship, some sort of belief that he was going to support me. The meeting went well. It was key to meet everybody, especially a big backer who would help push the club forward."

It says a lot about a wearied support who have tossed and turned through one nightmare too many that only one fan hung around for an autograph when the new manager checked into Tynecastle on Thursday. Burley understands the mood though, and is intent on lifting it. His initial addresses will do much to help but he has been in the game long enough to know that actions speak much louder than words.

The manager was described as "box office" by Anderton, who said that players who had been unsure about signing for the capital club before the manager was unveiled had been back in touch with invitations to "come and get me".

But it is the quality of personnel he enlists that will determine the real level of excitement as the season gets underway. In the short-term, the aim is to bring in the kind of quality which will convince Scottish football - and Hearts fans in particular - that the ambitions are serious.

"It's easy to say that, but I'm hopeful that within the next two to three weeks the fans will believe that. It takes time to build the squad up, but hopefully they will have the belief that the club means business. That we want to make it stronger, improve the stadium, work with the community, bring the young kids up, bring better quality of players in and play in a style that is good to watch: it's all those ingredients together."

Having inherited just 14 first-team players, the first task is bolstering the squad and ensuring they hold onto the best players already there.

"The standard of player I would be looking to bring to Hearts would be more than I had at Derby. That's where we're coming from. I'm looking for a step on. Derby was brilliant, and the longer you are at a club the more you are looking to improve. We improved a hell of a lot over those two years but now, with Hearts, I'm looking for a standard of player that can push on again." But better than Championship suggests Premiership standard. "Yeah, I know - good quality players. I have a number in mind. As you say, it has been a difficult time for the Hearts fans, but all I can say is that I believe that we can get success at the club, otherwise I wouldn't be here."

According to Burley, money is not the sole route to success. Despite having more cash to splash than his predecessors, he remains a frugal Scot.

"I know that I can pay transfer fees and bring players in and how big that budget will be, but it's important that we don't throw money away. I brought in five free transfers last year for Derby and it worked very well, so we will be looking at the market carefully, whether it's free transfers, or paying money for players, or loans.

"In football it doesn't matter where you are in the world, you've got to try to get the best out of the players, the best out of your staff and work hard to improve. I have the luxury where I don't have to sell, and the luxury where I can maybe pay a small transfer fee, but nothing else really changes as far as working with people and getting the best out of people."

The fact that Hearts no longer consider themselves a selling club, allowing them to rebuke all but the most fanciful fees for key players such as Paul Hartley, Andy Webster and Craig Gordon, will be considered by fans to be just as positive as the newfound ability to bring in quality additions.

But spending power is not the only thing which will contribute to any success Hearts achieve under Burley. For a hands-on manager who describes himself as a frustrated player and loves immersing himself in day-to-day work on the training ground, the academy is pivotal to his long-term plans.

"That's always a key," he says. "You're only as good as the young players you've got coming through."

At Ipswich, Burley had Keiron Dyer, Titus Bramble and Darren Bent, and though he was eventually forced to sell the lads who had all come through as trainees, he recouped £14million for that trio alone. And at Derby last year, he blooded both Tom Huddlestone and Lee Holmes.

"It's a very open market these days and you are always looking, but that will never take away from the fact that, for me, bringing young players through to the team is the key.

"In my teams, if young players have been good enough they have always been given the opportunity. But at the end of the day we want short-term success as well. We will have to bring six or seven players in now, whether we like it or not, for the new season, and then work with everyone."

The views expressed by the 47-year-old Scot, who knows his own mind and will prove no-one's puppet, render him a decent photo-fit of the kind of leader the fans had hardly dared picture. Especially as he allies the idea of winning with the aim of doing it in style.

After a season of being compared unfavourably to rivals Hibs, not only in terms of results but also in the realm of flair and entertainment, the Gorgie support have reason for renewed optimism.

In bringing in the man who helped mould manager-of-the-year Tony Mowbray as a coach - the Hibs gaffer learned from Burley, just as he had previously been tailored by the teachings of Sir Bobby Robson - the Hearts board could be seen as thumbing their nose at their Hibs counterparts. Anything you can do, we can do better seems to be the unspoken retort to last season.

Burley has played alongside Alex McLeish, Gordon Strachan and Terry Butcher, so knows a number of his foes, but it's the managerial mind of Mowbray he probably knows best. There's a glint in his eye when asked if his style will be similar to Mowbray's. "Well, who did he learn from?" he replies with a smile.

It may also help Burley that there is a spy in his rival's camp. Visiting Easter Road on the final day of last season, as Hibs secured their UEFA Cup slot and Rangers the title, Burley was unaware he would be the manager of Hearts by the time the new season got underway, so it wasn't a reconnaissance trip.

"My daughter's boyfriend actually plays for Hibs, so I was up here with my wife," he says, smiling again.

It makes the first derby an intriguing proposition. Young Chris Hogg wouldn't want to upset the potential in-laws, would he?

Taken from the Scotsman