PRESSLEY: PLAYERS HAVE TO SHOW REAL HEART IN GORGIE NOW

I STOOD up in the dressing room yesterday morning and told my team-mates we needed to show unity with Hearts like never before The departure of Phil Anderton and George Foulkes from Tynecastle has disappointed the players as much as the fans.

But regardless of the thoughts and opinions of everyone who holds it dear, the most important thing at Hearts is not one individual or football player, but the club itself.

At this moment,more than ever, we must put the club to the forefront of our thoughts and cast any personal feelings to the back of our minds.

On Monday night I took a phone call from a team-mate who broke the news that Phil and George had gone and I was surprised and disappointed.

Therefore I want to put on record the strength of my relationship with both men.

Phil was a very approachable chief executive, an honest man and someone with whom I was always comfortable doing business.

I don't know what went on between him and Mr Romanov behind the scenes but it was always a pleasure for me to work with him in the dealings we had together.

George, for his part, was a very charismatic chairman and guided the club through some difficult times He always spoke so positively about Hearts, the club he has supported for over 20 years, and has been a tremendous figurehead for the last 17 months. He is a lovely manwho always spoke from the heart.

The mood among the players as we gathered for training yesterday was fine. Yes, there was a sense of disappointment about the departures and sympathy as well for two popular characters but we push on with the job of securing results for this club.

For most of the players, the departure of Phil and George won't change our day-today business too much and in that respect the parting of the ways with George Burley was more significant from our point of view.

The latest changes mean I will have to deal with more of the media side at the club in the days ahead and although it's something that I'm used to, I don't want to go into the issues in too much depth.

The most important thing is for us to concentrate on putting the club first.

Only time and results will tell if the latest moves at Tynecastle will have a negative affect, irrespective of what I say in this column.

I hope not, because we have a tremendous strength of character in the dressing room and we need to show it again.

It's easy when results don't go to plan to start looking for convenient excuses and that is something we cannot afford to do as we concentrate on building to our great start to the season.

In that respect, I hope that the managerial position is filled as quickly as possible because stability is very important to players, no matter the club.

The one consolation we have is that after Saturday's game against Dundee United there is a fortnight's break for internationals.

Hopefully, that period of rest for the players will allow the dust to settle around the club and allow a newmanager to be appointed MrRomanov will make the best decision he sees fit but the real test with United in mind will be proving we can bounce back following our first setback of the season against Hibs.

There was little in the game at Easter Road and for 75 minutes we were relatively comfortable without playing particularly well.

Losing two late goals was especially disappointing but fair play to Hibs, who merited the victory over the course of 90 minutes.

We know how important derby matches are to the supporters but it's also vital that we don't lose sight of the bigger picture.

If anyone had told us on July 28 that we would be joint top of the Scottish Premier League in November we would have settled for it.

It's easy for me to say last Saturday was only a blip but the proof will come in our next performance.

We must return to form against Dundee United and play with the hi-tempo aggression that has been our trademark to date.

Finally, just to show we still know how to have fun, we got together for a go-kart competition on Monday and crowned striker Graham Weir a very dubious champion.

In total, 16 of us turned out and yours truly made it into pole position for the final, only to be deliberately taken out by Weir on the first lap.

Revenge was sweet when I came out of the spin and knocked him sideways next time round.

But how he was then crowned champion as four racers,led by Robbie Neilson,sped right past him I will never know.

Mind you, the worst performance of the day went to our masseur Alan, or Miss Daisy as he is now known around the club.

He went round the track so slowly, passing dogs stopped to do the business on his tyres

Taken from the Daily Record