Hearts' wall of silence an injustice to loyal fans

Tynecastle genuinely has the most pumped-up PA man in the business. Before every game, he finishes off with with the rallying call: “Let’s make some noise!” No, on second thoughts, let’s say nothing at all. That is the new philosophy at Hearts.

George Burley? That’s really none of your business, thank you. You expect the media to be given that sort of treatment, but the very lifeblood of the club? The people who have been buying strips, merchandise and season tickets all season and who demonstrated a year ago to put the brakes on the proposed move to Murrayfield? Surely not. Another sellout 17,000 audience will roll up tonight still completely ignorant as to why the manager who guided them to the top of the table is no longer around.

They are entitled to an answer. The club says no. That would just provide “fuel for people to focus on this matter”, according to Phil Anderton, the chief executive. By that he means the media, whom Hearts have been cynically trying to drag into the issue over the past four days as the root cause of the Edinburgh club’s trouble right now.

Trying to shoot the messenger is simply disguising the real issue: that one of the most talked-about teams in Europe — and that is not hyperbole — this season have lost their manager with the most inexplicable timing.

Who would not want to know the reason why? I have already been asked the question by people in Germany in recent days, so for those on Gorgie Road, the frustration must be maddening. Hearts can insert as many “confidentiality” clauses as they want. That may work in the business world, but 17,000 people do not turn up each week to see the CEO of IBM do his job. They do with Burley’s players and they did with the former manager, which is why they are entitled to some sort of rational explanation about the separation.

Clearly Hearts feel that silence is golden. It is not. It is mud-brown. In the absence of fact comes speculation and the mud sticks. Stories of Burley and Romanov having a blazing row at the training ground or Rudi Skacel being given a Lithuanian version of Fergie’s hairdryer by the club’s de facto owner after the match with Dunfermline Athletic for revealing the T-shirt that said “For the gaffer”. If Hearts had given a reason for Burley’s departure, his team would not be under such pressure now that those leaks have emerged. A dressing-room mole is at almost every club, a friendly source that a journalist will use to get past the no-entry signs posted by management.

However, they are only used when the story is unflattering for the club concerned. Who wants to know about a successful team keeping the same line-up for the next match? But some strife — give us the scoop, please.

You feel sorry for all the Hearts players. They are going along well, keeping their noses clean and winning games. They did not ask for Burley to be sacked, but they are paying the price on and off the pitch. The scrutiny will be intense, especially for the five Scots, Steven Pressley, Craig Gordon, Paul Hartley, Andy Webster and Robbie Neilson.

Gordon, who is being asked to sign a new contract that will keep the prying eyes — Graeme Souness, the Newcastle United manager, watched him last weekend — away from the Scotland goalkeeper, must look at what happened to Burley and wonder about the flawed nature of loyalty under the Romanov regime of the club that he has supported since childhood.

“It’s unbelievable what Hearts fans have been put through recently,” he told the club website, heartsfc.co.uk, yesterday. “It took another dramatic twist before we all met up for our pre-match meal on Saturday morning. We knew about a meeting taking place that morning, which was intended to be about bonuses, but, as the time ticked on, it was clear that this was no ordinary meeting.

“Soon after Mr Romanov came in to break the news, flanked by his son Roman, who was translating. The news they brought was not good and it totally deflated the team. I’m sure, like myself, many people will be devastated by this news, as they could see how well the team was playing for the manager.”

You also have to feel sorry for John McGlynn. The coach, pressganged into the role of caretaker manager for the second time in six months, reprising the job he did after the sacking of John Robertson.

McGlynn will get the flak if things go wrong and the team start dropping points. It will stain his CV and any chances of a manager’s job one day, but he knows that he is merely keeping the seat warm for somebody else. “I’m sure if we keep on getting results, we may not be in a big a hurry (to appoint a manager) — but we will be if results turn,” he said yesterday. “There’s no doubt that as soon as we get one defeat, everyone will jump on the bandwagon. That’s the nature of the beast.

“We’ve been going so well, but it’s difficult to think that we’ll go through the season and not be beaten. Somewhere along the line a defeat will come, but the longer we keep on winning, the need to find a new manager is not so great.”

Taken from timesonline.co.uk