COMMANDER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Aug 6 2005

CAPITAL CRUNCH: HIBS V HEARTS I thought Hearts was a bad move even after I accepted it But Vlad has shown he'sreal deal with Webster and Hartley Bednar is worth fortune, he is the best young player I've ever seen I'll take pals Mowbrayand Venus out for dinner after derby debut

By Hugh Keevins

GEORGE BURLEY didn't want to move back to Scotland and took the job as Hearts manager without being certain he was doing the right thing.

Now he's convinced he's sitting on one player at Tynecastle who's worth millions of pounds and has three others who could one day play in the Premiership.

But don't ask him to believe that tomorrow's Edinburgh derby is make or break for his reputation because Burley doesn't do drama.

The only thing in his life which has ever truly upset him was an unfounded allegation put about by an unnamed person when his time in charge of managing Derby was coming to a messy, acrimonious end.

He began to discuss the issue which drove him into becoming Hearts manager inside his office at the club's academy beside the aptly named Field of Hope.

But then he asked for a veil to be drawn over the matter because it would only make him angry when he had Hibs to think about.

Burley said: 'I had an unworkable relationship with one individual at the club. I was going to walk out on them three months before I did leave - but no names.'

The truth is a distinguished career, including11caps for his country, and a sizeable reputation as a manager, suddenly became tarnished by untrue stories about the manager having allegedly turned up for training with traces of alcohol on his breath.

The affair carried undeniable evidence of a dirty tricks campaign being waged against Burley. But he now takes the attitude that least said, soonest mended is his best policy.

And he steadfastly refuses to mention the name of Derby's director of football, Murdo McKay, when their dislike for each other is one of football's worst kept secrets.

That's because hurt is something Burley has learned to absorb like a sponge.

He said: 'When I moved into management at my first club, Ayr United, in 1990 I got a grounding in hard knocks and how to deal with them. I had to lay off eight players and make the rest of my squad part-time because of money problems.

'I was putting players on the dole who might have had no job skills and telling the rest they'd have to go from earning £200 a week to taking home a£60wage packet.'

A short time at Colchester United then led to a return to Ipswich, where he had been part of the club's greatest side, as manager.

Promotion to the Premiership and a record high fifth place there was followed by entry into the UEFA Cup.

And then they sacked him when Ipswich were in the third round of Europe.

Burley said: 'I thought it was harsh after seven good years there. The Ipswich fans were canvassed for a poll and 95 per cent of them thought it was harsh too.

'You have to stop going to games involving other clubs after that because people look at you like a vulture.The managers think, 'What are you doing here. Are you after my job?' 'But I didn't want to leave England, in spite of everything that had gone on at Ipswich and Derby. And I really didn't think Hearts was the right move for me.

'I wanted to find a club near to my home in Ipswich and have no disruption to my family life.'

Phil Anderton, the Tynecastle chief executive, had believed he was on the verge of a coup by getting Sir Bobby Robson to take the job created by the decision to remove John Robertson.

But it wasn't the thought he might be second choice that unsettled Burley.

He said: 'I wasn't exactly being asked to go to a club that was flying. So I had my reservations about Hearts and I still wasn't100per cent certain I was doing the right thing when I told Vladimir Romanov, our owner, I would take the job.

'But he was very persuasive when I went to see him in Lithuania and now I genuinely believe I've taken a gamble that will pay off in the long run.

'Mr Romanov has backed me by not selling Paul Hartley and Andy Webster when they wanted to go to Celtic and Rangers respectively.

'Paul's very close to signing a new contract and I'll be sitting down with Andy for a man-to-man chat about getting him to extend his contract here.

'That goes for Craig Gordon as well, even though he still has two years left on his existing agreement with us.

'He's also bankrolled the signings I've made and one of them, Roman Bednar, will be worth millions of pounds to this club one day.

'He's the best young player I've ever seen and he's part of something that's being built for Hearts and not nurtured for anybody else.

'My assistant, Simon Hunt, has a knowledge of European football that is second to none, which is why any suggestion that Mr Romanov picks the team here is ludicrous.

'When we were at Derby we brought in an unknown Pole called Grzegorz Rasiak for nothing. They've just turned down an bid of £1.2million for him.'

The next step in Hearts' plan to shake Scottish football out of its Old Firm-dominated lethargy will be plotted in Edinburgh this weekend when Romanov flies in for the derby and a conference with his manager.

Burley said: 'To go into that meeting having won my first game against Hibs would be great because I'm Scottish and I understand the intensity of the rivalry between the two sets of fans.

'But just because I'm Hearts' manager I don't intend to shun my friends Tony Mowbray and Mark Venus. Our wives are friends and one day we'll all get together and go out in Edinburgh.

'Friendships don't end because you're with rival football clubs.

'This is a big occasion but it's just one game along the way to Hearts' full development.

'I might have taken time to be convinced in my own mind that I was doing the right thing by coming to this club but now I know our potential.

'And we can bridge the long-standing gap between Hearts and the Old Firm. Maybe not this season, but it's coming

Taken from the Daily Record