Gary Locke not happy at holding the key to breaking Hearts

Locke may find today’s task at Rugby Park somewhat surreal. The man who was Hearts captain when they lifted the Scottish Cup in 1998 could help to hammer the final nail into the coffin of the Edinburgh club and lay their wretched season to rest.

If tenth-placed Kilmarnock win today, they will condemn Hearts to finishing in the bottom six of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League. That would be a huge psychological blow, as well as a financial one. Just a week after Hearts revealed that debts under the leadership of Vladimir Romanov had soared to £36.25 million, the club would find lucrative fixtures against Celtic and Rangers, as well as the final Edinburgh derby of the season against Hibernian, vanishing into thin air to be replaced by more mundane assignments against St Mirren and Gretna.

Hearts go into this pivotal week 33 of the Premier League schedule, when the split comes into force to separate the tables into top and bottom halves to sort out the remaining five fixtures, desperately hoping to keep their season alive. Fighting to be in the top six seems a comedown for a club that was in the Champions League in 2006.

If they win, they can put pressure on their rivals for that sixth spot, Aberdeen and Falkirk, who meet on Monday at Pittodrie. If they fail, there will be a bitter inquest among the growing number of fans who have had enough of Romanov’s regime.

The irony is that fate should summon up Locke and Jim Jefferies, the manager who guided Hearts to that 1998 triumph, to decide the destiny of a club they are both still attached to.

“It is very difficult for me,” Locke said yesterday. “Kilmarnock pay my wages and have looked after me so well in my six years here. The only thing in my mind is doing well for them. However, it is difficult for me to comment on what’s happened at Hearts. A strong Hearts team is good for the Premier League in general, it made things more interesting when they were up there challenging Celtic and Rangers, as we did in 1998 and then a couple of years ago.

“The financial side of things is a question that only Mr Romanov can answer. However, there are a lot of quality players on the pitch. People forget that despite selling Craig Gordon, Paul Hartley and even Andrius Velicka, they still have a lot of quality on the pitch. They still have a chance of being in the top six and they will want to win this game.”

When pressed about the descent of Hearts since Romanov jettisoned George Burley, the man who is now Scotland manager, in October 2005 after he had taken them to top of the table, Locke takes the fifth amendment. “They did well under George Burley but I am only focused on Kilmarnock now and we have also had a disappointing season that we want to put right. We had ambitions of being in the top six like we were last season but we’ve been stuck in the bottom half of the table all season because of our dreadful injury problems.

“Dundee United and Motherwell have been the sides to come up with a challenge to the Old Firm this year. In previous times, it has been Kilmarnock or Hearts. No one wants to see Rangers and Celtic running away with the title. It’s difficult because they have got such huge financial clout but I think the rest of the Premier League can look at this season and say we could do better.”

Financial clout is not something to be found around Rugby Park. Romanov may have almost doubled Hearts’ debt in his time in control, but Kilmarnock embraced pragmatic spending a long time ago. Jefferies works on an annual budget of just £1 million and that means a perennial juggling of contracts and wages in a dressing-room where few salaries exceed £40,000, which is why Kilmarnock are stripped of their best assets, such as Steven Naismith, Kris Boyd and Colin Nish.

Not having the pressure of fighting for a European place means that Jefferies has been able to use youngsters such as Iain Flannigan, Ryan O’Leary and Tim Clancy. “Clubs like us have to bring youngsters through,” Locke said. “The manager has no money to spend.

“There is maybe not the same pressure as playing in the top six, but these next five games are not meaningless. The manager has told the squad that they are playing for their futures. They have to show something to prove they are worth a contract. I’m fortunate because I have another year and although I am also coaching the reserve side now, I want to keep playing.”

Jefferies knows that his horizon is limited. “After the split, teams in the bottom half of the table can put fringe players in,” he said. “When you build a team at a club like Kilmarnock, the danger is that you lose players. Sometimes you just have to look at the bigger picture, so you just get on with the process of rebuilding.”

Taken from timesonline.co.uk