THE SMILING ASSASSIN

GEORGE BURLEY bounces into the Hearts training HQ with a smile that has you reaching for your Ray-Bans.

His greying hair is immaculately combed and he looks ridiculously fit and healthy for a guy who will be wearing a badge that says: 'I am 50' on his next birthday.

He is friendly, engaging and answers almost every question with that megawatt grin.

But never judge a book by its cover. Leaf through a few pages of Burley's footballing lifestory and you'll find a manager who is as hard-nosed and ruthless as the best of them.

He's dragged unfancied teams into situations they couldn't have dreamed of - Ipswich into Europe, for instance, after finishing fifth in the Premiership in their first season among the big boys.And he didn't do that by laughing and smiling his way through every minute of every day.

Behind the smile and the glint in his eye lurks a footballing brain as sharp as a scalpel.

Not only has he used it to perform major surgery on the Hearts squad he inherited from John Robertson at the start of the season, he has also employed it in subtle ways.

Never missing a chance to stress his squad needs strengthened in January, in the knowledge that someone will be translating his every word into Lithuanian, for instance.

Or in dropping into the conversation the hope the referee in today's match against Hearts is strong enough to withstand Celtic's fanatical support.

Burley didn't come straight out and plead for a fair deal, he simply skirted round the issue in the knowledge you don't have to break a door down when you can pick the lock.

No, this is a wolf in sheep's clothing all right and Gordon Strachan and Alex McLeish would do well to recognise that fact.

He made all the right noises yesterday. This will be a tough test. Celtic are favourites,blah,blah,blah.

But Burley believes in his team. Make no mistake, Hearts are heading to Celtic Park on a mission As the man said: "We won't go therewithanyfear.We'llgothereand try to win the game.

"People say if we lose against Celtic the bubble has burst but we don't feel that way.

"We've come an amazingly long way this season and we will be working hard to try to finish as high as possible, knowing we are still a bit short as far as quality and size of squad compared to the Old Firm.

"We have a group of players whose strengths are in playing a certain way.We won't change that. We won't be changing our style against Celtic."

Nor should they.Three weeks ago, Hearts kept their shape while Rangers altered theirs to try to combat them. They couldn't and now the league leaders have an Old Firm double in their sights.

Having played for and managed an Ipswich team that surpassed all expectations,Burley knows it canbe done north of the border as well.

He added:"Ipswich won the UEFA Cup in 1981 but I didn't play against AZ Alkmaar in the final as I had done my cruciate ligament. But I was part of the team until the February.

"I think that success showed smaller clubs can go and exceed what people think they can do. Definitely.

"It's not all about spending money and buying players. It's working with a group of players and trying to get the best out of them by working hard on the training ground and then going out and winning games.

"Nobody would have believed when I took over Ipswich that we'd end up back in Europe and finish fifth in the Premiership but we did"You have got to have a belief in your own ability and in your players.

"You have to believe in training a certain way to do things that will get us success and I think that's something everyone must have - your staff and players.

"You have to get them to believe that you are going to bring the best out of them."

Burleys welcomed his stars back from international duty all over the Continent this week and believes that apart from suspended keeper Craig Gordon and injured striker Roman Bednar, he'll have his strongest team available.

But he insists Celtic are still the favourites.

The manager said:"Definitely.You look at the quality of their squad and the depth of it. Look at the finances they've spent.

"I saw them play at Livingston recently when they won5-0and they played very well.

"As for us, we are still at the very early stages of building a squad and we've done fantastically well.

"But we are certainly under no pressure at all.All we will be trying to do is keep our run going.

"They are all tests. This league is very competitive and every game is difficult.You've got to be at your best and in the first half against Falkirk we weren't.

"It was a massive test in the second half with 10 men, which we came through. No games are easy - you have to be at your best week in, week out and going to Parkhead against Celtic, who have won their last five games and are a massive club with a big squad full of internationalplayers, is not going to be easy.

"They are favourites going into the game tomorrow.

"We'll go there and enjoy it. I don't feel there is any pressure on the team at all. We'll compete in our normal manner."

So far that has been enough to stay unbeaten in the league this season.

Burley is convinced they'll remain so this afternoon. He might not

Taken from the Daily Record