Craig Levein offers stalled Andy Driver a jump-start

By Moira Gordon
Published on Sunday 4 December 2011 00:00

IF FOOTBALL truly is a funny old game, Andrew Driver must be waiting for someone to deliver the punchline. Because these days there seems very little for the Hearts winger to smile about, let alone muster a chuckle.

Less than two years ago he was at the centre of a tug-of-war between the SFA and the Auld Enemy, with a rule change implemented to allow Scotland to finally claim him as one of their own while, at domestic level, Tynecastle was proving the in place for top scouts and managers to congregate as they weighed up multi-million pound bids for the talented attacker.

The offers were rebuffed. But now it is the player himself the club seem intent on snubbing. Despite Hearts’ recent dearth of goals, and with a trip to Parkhead looming, Driver’s struggle to secure a starting berth seemingly goes on. Having mustered just 31 minutes of first-team action since August, the 24-year-old has become a frustrated fixture in the same stands his suitors once occupied.

He does remain in the thoughts of national manager Craig Levein but, until he can get back to regular first-team football, that’s where he will stay.

“As soon as he is back playing regularly, he will be back in the squad,” said the Scotland manager, who has been a long-time admirer of the former England under-21 international and who championed the rule change which means players can represent one of the home nations if they have been educated in that country for five years, an amendment which allows the English-born Driver to qualify for Scotland. “I wouldn’t have gone through the process of tackling the ruling which made him eligible to play for us if I didn’t want him playing for Scotland. I didn’t do that for nothing,” said Levein.

But the plans to cap the player have been temporarily blighted, initially by injury and subsequently by a lack of SPL game time.

Levein added: “It’s not my place to tell club managers who they should and shouldn’t be selecting but I will say that Hearts must think they have some very good players if they can afford to leave a fit Andrew Driver out. When Andrew Driver is 100 per cent fit, as I believe he is, then I’d say he is one of Hearts’ best players. He has not been getting the opportunities to prove himself in a match, though.

“He has been unfortunate with injuries in the past but now he is fit and he must be feeling frustrated, knowing how close he came to international football and a big move down to England. It must be extremely difficult for him but I still firmly believe he is an international player all day long and he will show that once he gets back playing.”

Playing and scoring in Paulo Sergio’s first game in charge, against Paksi in the Europa League, Driver’s first and last full 90 minutes for the Hearts manager came four matches later, in the derby at the end of August. The player has since been left kicking his heels but for two brief cameo appearances. Majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov still considers him a valuable commodity to dangle under the noses of would-be buyers, but Driver does not appear to fit into the manager’s plans.

The fact he was the player who spoke out about the ongoing problems with wage delays before the club imposed a media ban is unlikely to have aided his case for reinstatement, with Driver himself tweeting that “Honesty isn’t the best policy sometimes.”

After failing to make last weekend’s 18-man matchday squad, he again vented frustrations via the social network site: “Good win for the boys. Had a great view from the stands. Feels like another wasted week.”

“I read that there was the possibility of him going out on loan so he could get some games,” said former Hearts manager Jim Jefferies. “The one thing that’s a certainty is that Andrew won’t struggle to find a club that wants him. In my time at the club they turned down a few significant bids but, at that time, the club felt he was potentially worth even more. He was an outstanding prospect and, in the big games, he was the player you wanted in there for you. There were games I was desperate to have him playing but he has been unlucky with injuries. But I don’t think that’s the problem now. I spoke to Andrew recently and, according to him, he is fully fit and desperate to be involved. I think he is finding it hard being out of the team. I don’t know why and it is every manager’s prerogative to pick whatever players he wants but it was the same for John Sutton but he’s now been given his chance and Andrew just needs to keep his head down and keep working hard.”

Jefferies adds that there is nothing wrong with the mentality, training standards or dedication of the player. “An injury-free Andrew Driver doesn’t have any obvious weaknesses. He has plenty of assets and I would have thought they were clear to see. He is comfortable on his left and right foot and he can play on either wing and gives defenders a real dilemma. But, like anyone else who has been out for some time, he can’t always be expected to just come into the team and click back into his best form.”

Having said that, Jefferies says one of the best decisions he made was to throw him into an Edinburgh derby on the back of an injury comeback two seasons ago. Having convinced the player he was fit enough, Driver delivered a match-winning performance.

But his days of winning big games for the Tynecastle club could be over. As Hearts seek to cut costs, it is likely he will be offloaded in January. If it leads to regular football, the player won’t be disappointed and neither will Levein. The current situation may be far from amusing for the frustrated star but, in the long run, Driver could yet have the last laugh.

Taken from the Scotsman