Lucky jim has the drive for new job

PAUL KIDDIE

WHEN Jim Stewart renewed his acquaintance with Hearts, it didn't take the goalkeeping coach long to realise he had joined a club really going places.

The former Rangers and Kilmarnock star answered an SOS from the Jambos last month after Malcolm Webster followed George Burley out the Tynecastle door.

Almost immediately he became aware that the Gorgie outfit is a vastly different place to the one he knew so well during a decade as part of the backroom team.

Having been used to putting the likes of Henry Smith, Gilles Rousset, Antti Niemi, Roddy McKenzie and current No.1 Craig Gordon through their paces at the playing fields attached to Pinkie-St Peter's Primary School in Musselburgh, the club's state-of-the art academy at Heriot-Watt University made an instant impression.

Gone are the days of the coaching staff having to transport training gear by minibus and the players changing either at the school or nearby leisure centre, the Riccarton complex offering facilities almost unparalleled in Scotland.

"The surface at Pinkie was excellent for playing but the guys had to take everything down there each morning," said Stewart, who was initially brought to the club by former boss Sandy Clark.

"Now they have everything on their doorstep thanks to the academy at Heriot-Watt and not many clubs can boast of facilities like that here.

"The complex is fantastic and there's no need now for the club to keep getting permission to train at specific places. It's all there for them."

The former Scotland keeper was lured to Rugby Park by Jim Jefferies just over three years ago but was offered the chance to return to Hearts by caretaker manager John McGlynn, the former youth coach having filled the void left by Burley's exit until Graham Rix's appointment last week.

It's a two-hour drive from his home in Ayrshire every morning but, having been out of a permanent job since leaving Kilmarnock at the end of last season, it's a journey he is more than happy to make.

"When John was acting as caretaker boss he gave me a call and asked if I would be interested in doing something on a temporary basis. I know a lot of the lads and having worked previously with Craig Gordon, I told him I would be delighted to do so," he said.

"It's just over three years since I was at the club and I was only too happy to help out when they came calling.

"Things are so different now with the academy and it must be a joy for everyone to go to their work there each day.

"I leave the house at 7am and get to Riccarton about 9am but you won't find me complaining about that.

"After leaving Kilmarnock at the end of my contract in the summer, I did a wee bit with Dundee for six or seven weeks but that was just one day a week.

"Hearts is a full-time job and I'm happy to keep doing it until somebody tells me otherwise."

Officially opened by former Scotland manager Andy Roxburgh some 17 months ago, the academy suitably reflects the kind of ambition currently driving Vladimir Romanov in his quest to see Hearts qualify for the Champions League.

"The potential for Hearts has always been there," said Stewart. "But having seen it now in operation, it's obvious the club is moving forward and definitely on the up."

Stewart's Tynecastle return has seen him link up again with Gordon, the keeper he has helped groom for success from an early age. As goalkeeping coach to the national team, Stewart has also worked closely with the 22-year-old while on duty with Scotland.

Since his coach's previous posting in Gorgie, Gordon has blossomed into one of the best young keepers in Britain, his form between the posts seeing him firmly established as Scotland's first choice custodian.

"I have followed Craig's career intently since I left Hearts and I can't praise him highly enough for what he has achieved," added Stewart, whose own international career saw him capped against Chile in 1977 and Norway the following year.

Gordon, under contract until 2007, has made no secret of the fact that he would like to accept the challenge of the English Premiership when the time suits and Stewart believes he has the game to grace the biggest of stages.

Drawing a comparison to some of the game's biggest stars on the Continent, the Hearts coach insisted the youngster has all the necessary attributes to go on to even bigger and better things.

"His standard of performances has been fantastic and one of his big assets is the composure he has for someone at such a young age," he said.

"I have seen him at close quarters at international level and he has the qualities to cope with performing on a big, big stage, and all credit to him for that.

"When you look at the likes of Italy's Gianliugi Buffon and Real Madrid's Casillas, right, they were playing in the first team when they were 19 or 20. And I believe Craig has got the ability to go on and play at the highest level."

The Tynecastle star earned his 14th cap for his country in Saturday's 1-1 draw with the United States and pulled off a couple of superb stops, his save from Gregg Berhalter's first-half free-kick particularly impressive.

"Craig has been in great form since the start of the season and is a key member of the defence which has been performing so well," said Stewart.

"He made a terrific stop from the penalty spot in the recent league game against Dundee United and carried that into the weekend friendly at Hampden.

"Among all the guys I have worked with, he has to rank up there very high. It's fantastic for Hearts that he is at the club and I'm sure they would be delighted if they could put an offer to him that would keep him here for the foreseeable future."

Taken from the Scotsman