The 'fighter' who has lifted Hearts with his graft and sense of humour

Michael Grant

THERE's a story slowly emerging at Hearts which has nothing to do with all of the ones which generate the headlines.

It's not about a club living such a hand-to-mouth existence that it can't pay its players unless it keeps selling them. It's not about a loose cannon owner who wants to flog a club with £35m of debt but will first sell their best players and replace them with youths. And it's not about Mowgli or media monkeys who supposedly play the SPL like a puppet to get Hearts punished.

The story, unfolding quietly, is about a manager doing a solid job at the eye of this Tynecastle storm. Mention Hearts to anyone and the work being done by Paulo Sergio isn't likely to be the first thing which pops into their mind. But, even on the back of the fright against Auchinleck Talbot, which was far from his finest hour, he deserves more credit than he's had.

Sergio's a relatively young coach, 43, who had never previously played in British football, let alone managed here. In August he joined a club which had not won a competitive game since March. They appointed him a couple of days after the transfer window closed, which meant he had to assimilate new arrivals like Jamie Hamill, John Sutton and Mehdi Taouil without being able to sign anyone himself.

By October he was in charge of players who did not get their wages on time. Then it happened again in November, and yet again in December, to the point that one of his top goalscorers, Ryan Stevenson, said enough was enough and refused to play. He knows the likes of Andrew Driver, David Templeton, Rudi Skacel or Stevenson are likely to follow Eggert Jonsson out of the club to raise cash. Yet he carries on without complaint, seemingly content to embrace each obstacle.

As for his relationship with Vladimir Romanov, the weird and difficult owner, Sergio showed exactly how knowing and streetwise he could be when he joked about Romanov picking the Hearts team for their Europa League first leg against Tottenham Hotspur. "I talked a little bit after the practice with him and he told me the 11 players to play. No problem. Fortunately, they were the same 11 players I had chosen . . ."

Have Hearts landed a manager who can cope with Romanov's eccentricities? Certainly, he is increasingly showing himself able to match the owner's expectations.

Throughout all the problems of the past three months, Sergio's graft, pragmatism and attention to detail have lifted Hearts to fourth in the table and closing in on Motherwell in third. His side have defeated Hibs home and away, beaten Celtic at Tynecastle and held Tottenham to a goalless draw in London when everyone expected another bloodbath after the horrible 5-0 first leg. He has taken 10 points from the last available 12 in the league and drawn committed, high tempo performances from a group of players who were simultaneously making a formal complaint to the SPL about the club not paying them.

The players immediately warmed to his refreshing, progressive training methods and generally they have responded to his man-management. Yes, Hearts have a big and expensive squad, but they are not good enough to win without shrewd management.

Sergio is now emerging after a two-month withdrawal of media co-operation by Hearts. The ban was a shame, not least because it has prevented a full picture emerging of this cigarette-smoking, restaurant-loving bloke with his dry sense of humour, his sports car, his fondness for tennis and his past participation in the Portuguese version of bullfighting (in which the bull is not killed).

He has won over many of the supporters who could not see anything special in his mediocre spell at Sporting Lisbon. An ability to say the right things has helped.

"Everyone speaks about our problems, but we don't need people to have pity for us, what we need are solutions," he said.

And there was: "I am a fighter. I have never had easy jobs. Our supporters can trust that since I arrived here I have not thought about myself. I love the club, I feel a Jambo, like them."

It's pretty popular stuff coming from a guy who's taken to wearing a maroon cardigan.

Being humiliated at home by Tottenham was a sore one and Hearts went out of the Scottish Communities League Cup far too cheaply, on penalties to Ayr United. Over October/November they failed to score in four consecutive games. Not everyone shares his enthusiasm for playing one up front and plenty feel that Sutton should have been given more of a chance. He seemed to take Auchinleck lightly and almost paid the price. But overall Sergio has been better for Hearts than many had dared to hope.

Now the issue is how long he will stay. His contract is for only one season. For all his genuine fondness for Edinburgh his wife and two young daughters still live in Lisbon and visit only during holidays. That's not a viable, long-term arrangement.

Romanov gets pilloried for plenty, but the appointment of Sergio has worked. Within six months Hearts fans have gone from worrying about their new manager to being nervous about losing him.

Taken from the Herald