I have my sights on hidden gems

THE Hunt is on - and Hearts boss George Burley is confident his man will once again unearth some treasures.

Simon Hunt may be an unknown as far as the Gorgie faithful is concerned but he has played a key role in the success enjoyed by the Scot south of the Border.

While Burley, pictured below, received the plaudits for masterminding the rejuvenation of both Ipswich Town and Derby County over the past few years, he is the first to highlight the contribution of his "super scout".

Included in the list of gems uncovered by Hunt since first linking up with the new Tynecastle chief five years ago at Portman Road are West Brom's Danish defender Thomas Gaardsoe, Spaniards Inigo Idiakez and Pablo Cuñago, Polish star Grzegorz Rasiak and midfield maestro Morten Bisgaard, who has been capped eight times for Denmark.

"Recruitment is key to any club," said Burley, who wheeled and dealed with great effect at Pride Park without ever having pay a transfer fee.

"Simon was my international scout at Ipswich and then my chief scout at Derby and his knowledge of players around the world is second to none."

Englishman Hunt had no hesitation in agreeing to follow Burley to the Capital and has already spent endless hours on the phone as his global search for new talent clicked into top gear.

"We wouldn't have come here if we didn't think we could improve things and if they improve quickly it will be a massive bonus," said the man appointed as Burley's assistant.

"It's a big move for us to relocate to Edinburgh and we're not here to mess about. We are here to do a job and get Hearts back to being the third force in Scotland where they should be."

After breaking into the Wrexham first team at the age of 18, Hunt spent three years with the Welsh club before a move to Sweden saw him forge a successful career on both the playing and managerial side of the game with Elfsborg, Brage (he was player-manager at just 30) Gais and Kalmar FF.

It was current South Africa boss Stewart Baxter who first pointed Hunt in the direction of Burley and the pair have not looked back since pairing up in 2000.

Baxter was in charge of AIK Stockholm when he tipped off Hunt about an opening at Ipswich - and the rest is history.

"I was living with my Swedish girlfriend when I was at Wrexham and went across there to get married. I actually thought I'd only be staying for a week but then got a good offer from Elfsborg and ended up playing for them for three years.

"I played for ten years in the premier league in Sweden and did all my coaching badges there.

"I was heavily into coaching and management and Lars Lagerback was my mentor on the football side.

"I built up a good reputation in Sweden and Stewart Baxter, who was manager of AIK Stockholm at the time, called me up and said that Ipswich were looking for someone and that George was a really good guy and that it was a good opportunity to get my foot in the door back in England.

"Ipswich came over to talk to me and I went over there in 2000. I hit it off with George immediately and he asked me to be his European scout.

"At the time I had a young family and wasn't too keen to leave Sweden so decided to give it a go, basing myself in Sweden and looking around the world to see what was in the market.

"I did that for three years which was a great period with the team finishing fifth in the Premiership. When George left I followed him.

"He phoned me when he moved to Derby two years ago but this time he said he wanted me to move over and be at the club on a daily basis as a chief scout.

"He was brutally honest as he always is and told me it was a massive job and the first target was just to stay up. After talking it over with the family I decided to give it a go.

"The first season was a real scrap but with the players we brought in such as Idiakez, Raziak and Morten Bisgaard, plus George's coaching abilities, it proved a good combination."

Hunt is quite happy working away in the background and allowing his gaffer to cope with the glare of the media but he is confident that combination will now work to good effect at Tynecastle as Burley sets about re-establishing the Jambos as Scotland's third force.

"It's an exciting challenge for us here. We get on well and the thing with us is trust," he said.

"We respect each other's opinions but at the end of the day George is the gaffer and he makes the final decision on everything.

"That's the way I like it. We'll see what we need over the next few weeks. I presume the fans will be saying we want names and signings now but it doesn't always work like that.

"I've already seen guys like Joey Barton linked with the club since we came here but he would cost around £8million and we're not in that market.

"We're looking in every corner for the right player but we won't rush into things just for the sake of it. There will be no panic buys or anything like that.

"We don't want to bring in a load of foreigners just for the sake of it and anyone we do bring in will have to improve the team. If there is somebody here just as good then we'll not bother."

While Hunt's remit as Hearts new chief scout will be to identify the six players Burley insists he needs to bolster his first-team squad for the new league campaign, he will also be on hand on match days to offer advice.

"At Derby I'd be in the directors' box watching the game and would phone our goalkeeping coach Malcolm Webster on the bench and pass on some info for George to use if he wanted to," he said. "It worked well and we'll be doing the same at Tynecastle. I'll be there before the game and then at half-time will be in the dressing room with George for a brief chat about the game.

"But George and John McGlynn will be the guys taking the training during the week. I had a brief walk round yesterday watching things but then came back to the office to get on the phone as we have to start pulling in players.

"I've got loads of contacts thanks to the network I've built up over the years including managers, directors and agents I know I can trust and I'll be using them here."

Taken from the Scotsman