Humble Paulo Sergio praises predecessor Jim Jefferies

Published Date: 03 August 2011
Moira Gordon
PAULO Sergio supervised his first Hearts training session at the club's Riccarton complex yesterday after the ex-Sporting Lisbon coach was introduced to the squad as Jim Jefferies' replacement as manager.
With owner Vladimir Romanov watching, the Portuguese coach put the squad through their paces before taking in a bounce game at the club's training ground, although he pulled out of a mooted press conference, which he will instead give this afternoon ahead of his baptism of fire in Hearts' crucial Europa League qualifier against Paksi at Tynecastle tomorrow night.

It was the official changing of the guard after Sergio's predecessor Jefferies rejected an offer to remain at the club as director of football, claiming that the timing was not right and later explaining that he hopes to continue in management elsewhere. Jefferies and his assistant Billy Brown, who was sacked by the Tynecastle outfit on Monday, are now in talks with Hearts representatives aimed at agreeing suitable compensation.

The issue of Gary Locke's ongoing employment at the club he once captained has still to be resolved. It is believed that Jefferies has asked the club to maintain a degree of continuity for the players by retaining the popular first-team coach but with Sergio bringing in two of his own coaching staff - assistants Sergio Cruz and Alberto Cabral who were also at Riccarton yesterday - the matter remains uncertain.

Speaking after his first interaction with the squad he has inherited, the 43-year-old who has never coached outwith his native Portugal and has managed six sides since 2003 said he was not planning to tinker with too much ahead of tomorrow's return leg against Paksi at Tynecastle, as Hearts look to qualify after last week's 1-1 draw in Hungary.

"I really liked the first contact with the group, with the players, with all the people here working for Hearts," said Sergio. "We're not going to change a lot of things the team has been doing (against Paksi] but we started working this morning and we're going to try to begin to pass our ideas to the players from the first moment. We know it's an important game for us and we're just thinking about winning the game."

With the tie so delicately poised, it is the proximity of the Paksi game which has been one of the key causes of incredulity amongst those still trying to understand the timing of the latest managerial switch. Having finished third in the Scottish Premier League last term, Jefferies guided Hearts into European competition, but just three games into the new season, with a major match on the horizon, the latest destabilising of the club has bemused many observers.

The team headed to Ibrox on the opening day on the new campaign and earned a draw against the defending champions, before travelling to Hungary and doing the same against Paksi. Those results, however, were still not good enough to satisfy Romanov.

It is understood that Sunday's SPL encounter with Dundee United, which the owner attended, was always going to be Jefferies' last at the helm regardless of the scoreline. By then, Sergio, who was sacked by Sporting Lisbon soon after they were knocked out of the Europa League by Rangers last season, had already been identified as his replacement, with Romanov telling players at a meeting that he had wanted a manager with "European experience".

"I respect a lot the work of Jim and his past," said Sergio as he paid tribute to Jefferies' reign yesterday on Hearts TV, "but now the directors have invited me to work at the club.

"I'm very much excited and proud to be at Hearts. It's an honour for me and I'm going to do all my best to be successful at Tynecastle." He said he was happy to have realised his ambition to work within British football and was now keen to learn as much as possible about it. "I don't think that I know everything. I am a humble guy and I'm sure I'm going to learn too. I hope to get good results and good football for Hearts."

If the reasons being given for Jefferies' departure are to be believed then the former will be a prerequisite. Those condoning the overhaul have cited the record of 25 wins, 13 draws and 23 defeats in his 61 games as unacceptable but that was against a backdrop of dressing-room factions, injuries to key players and the enforced sidelining of others by the club hierarchy.

When Jefferies took charge midway through the 2009/10 season, the team were flailing around mid-table, battling to stay in the top six. Since then he has jettisoned difficult personalities and overpaid underperformers and successfully worked to unify the squad and enlist newcomers who have the work ethic fans demand. Building from that foundation, Sergio should have an easier task, but he will need to be well aware of his employers' demands.

Despite a league run of 11 games without defeat, taking 31 points out of 33 in a period which saw them threaten the top two slots last season, the lack of strength in depth in the squad eventually told. When the influential Kevin Kyle was sidelined through injury and the owner insisted he drop goalkeeper Marian Kello and captain Marius Zaliukas, the side struggled to turn draws into victories. Their last win came in March, with the season ending on a run of five draws and three defeats - to Rangers, Celtic and Dundee United. But Romanov is not one for pleas in mitigation or, it appears, for taking his share of the responsibility for the late-season stutterings.

Regardless of the circumstances, Jefferies still wrapped up the campaign with Hearts positioned as best of the rest behind the Glasgow pair. Given that the majority of Hearts fans as well as neutral observers believe that Hearts are always unlikely to upstage third place while the existing imbalance between the capital side and the Old Firm duo persists in terms of finance and the support bases, then surely last season's league standing constitutes a result. Not in Romanov's eyes and the jeopardy for Sergio, like the long list of managers who have gone before him lies in trying to live up to the ambitions set by the owner, and for that he will need to tap into the camaraderie and team spirit within a dressing-room upset at the departure of their highly-regarded manager.

For Jefferies, though, that is now someone else's headache. Those close to the manager and his assistant will tell you that when they accepted the job in January 2010 they were only too aware that longevity was a pipe dream. "Vladimir runs the club and he can change the management if he feels it's right," Jefferies said last night. "People debate whether that is right or wrong but he has been seen to make the change and you have to accept that and move on. I knew that before I went in, I wasn't daft, I knew they were different to other clubs."

The aim was to do as much as they could in the time they were given and privately they will admit that given the service record of predecessors their spell at the helm has already extended beyond their expectations if not their hopes. But Jefferies is proud of what he and Brown contributed and has not ruled out a return to management elsewhere.

Taken from the Scotsman