End of an era for Tynecastle heroes?

By ALAN PATTULLO
Published on Monday 21 May 2012 05:25

THERE was one hell of a bash going on at Tynecastle yesterday. Like the best parties, it was one shot through with some poignancy. The dress code was maroon, while the theme at times was plaintive.

Things, we know, are not going to be the same at Tynecastle. At the behest of an owner notably absent yesterday, belts are being tightened. Vladimir Romanov’s interest has waned to the extent that he did not even stay to watch the whole 90 minutes of Saturday’s 5-1 Scottish Cup final defeat of Hibernian, leaving early to catch a flight ahead of a business meeting in Moscow.

He was therefore absent yesterday as Tynecastle greeted another set of heroes, and welcomed back an old friend in the glinting shape of the Scottish Cup. It felt like only yesterday when we were last all here.

When, though, will we all be here again? The question over manager Paulo Sergio’s future is the one which needs addressed most urgently. He departed the stadium yesterday for possibly the last time and was unable to hide his frustration with Romanov, or at least with the situation in which he has been deposited. He has been left dangling like the maroon ribbons on the handles of the cup being paraded around Tynecastle yesterday.

It is doubly agonising for him, because he sounds like he desperately wishes to remain at the club, even if it means having to oversee severe cutbacks in his playing staff.

After witnessing the sight of more than 100,000 fans out on the streets of Edinburgh, Sergio admitted yesterday that the club was even bigger than he had imagined on his arrival in the city just eight months ago. He has helped enhance its status during his short stay.

“I knew when I arrived that this was a big club,” Sergio said. “I didn’t know it was this big, but I know now.

“If I’m leaving Hearts, if I’m not going to stay next year, I will always have this club in my heart, and for the rest of my life.

“I will return here even to see a league game. It was great for me the way everybody has respected me here. I am very, very proud of that. They will be with me forever.”

One of his two Portuguese assistants, Sergio Cruz, had already offered an intriguing hint as to Paulo Sergio’s future, clasping his breast with his hand and informing the supporters that the club will be “in my heart forever”.

It sounded for all the world like a valedictory speech from someone described, on the Hearts website, as the manager’s “trusted long-term associate”, although Sergio, when the microphone was placed in front of his mouth, managed to sound a little more circumspect.

However, he later managed to convey the impression to reporters that he believes he has managed his last game with Hearts. “I would prefer my last interview to end in a different way,” he said, although he would not, surely, change the way his last game played-out.

What a way to go. In a way, Saturday’s success could almost hasten the departure of many of these cup-winning heroes. Could Andrew Driver, dropped from the Hearts squad at Christmas, have conceived of contributing hugely to a rampant Scottish Cup winning performance just five months later? If he goes now, it will be with his reputation restored. It might make him more amenable to a change.

And then there are those to whom it has already been made clear that the end is nigh. Ian Black could not have scripted a better way to say farewell, although he did hint after the game on Saturday that he might return for another spell before the end of his career. The fear now is that he risks ruining the perfect goodbye, which, for a fervent Hearts fan, Saturday has to stand as. Indeed, they were already selling commemorative tee-shirts down the Gorgie Road, bearing the legend: Hearts 5 Wee Team 1.

Rudi Skacel, another notable hammerer of the Hibees, also saluted the crowd for one last time yesterday, though not before sweetly standing aside to let the ten-year-old Saskia Eng, a former Britain’s Got Talent contestant, enjoy some of the spotlight. Skacel got the biggest cheer of the day, and no wonder.

Already a fans’ favourite, he has managed to endear himself further to the crowd in this second spell with Hearts, signing off with a cup final brace against Hibs. The Czech is now believed to be headed for the States, where he hopes to continue his career in the Major Soccer League. So long, Rudi.

“It’s sad to lose players like that and we’ll say goodbye to them now,” said skipper Marius Zaliukas, who is himself a contender to leave if Hearts wish to make some money from transfers out of the club.

“Hopefully they will keep in touch. I don’t know if the manager will be here next season, who knows what to expect next season? I just hope everything we’ll be okay. Perhaps we are only saying goodbye for the summer. I hope we see them again.”

However, yesterday wasn’t only about saying sayonara, it wasn’t just about waving off old friends. There was a lot of fun to be had, too, often at the expense of Hibernian. Or “that other lot down the docks”, as they were termed by Scott Wilson, the long-serving master of ceremonies at Tynecastle.

Wilson expertly ratcheted up the excitement and suspense, broadcasting updates on the progress of the open-topped bus. “It’s coming up the Gorgie Road! It’s now on McLeod Street!”

To be fair, the bleary-eyed players still had just enough grip of their senses to avoid saying anything too derogatory, or unprofessional, about their friends from across the city, although Allan Carswell, Jamie MacDonald’s goalkeeping coach, did suggest that his pupil had had his easiest afternoon of his career on Saturday.

Again, it might be a case of the truth hurts for Hibees, who were advised to draw their curtains and soundproof their walls as the open-topped bus snaked its way towards Tynecastle, down from the city chambers.

Wilson asked the crowd to welcome a side who proved that Hearts “not only own Hibernian, but also own Edinburgh”. Ouch.

One by one the players emerged from the tunnel, the majority accompanied by little children toddling around their ankles.

Even David Templeton, left out of the cup final squad, bravely faced the crowd, and agreed to be interviewed by Wilson. “Obviously I was disappointed not to be involved,” he mumbled. His chance will come again.

The high comedy was provided by Craig Beattie, who shot out of the tunnel stripped to the waist, before high-kicking his way towards the centre-circle. It was a pretty reasonable reconstruction of his goal celebration in the Scottish Cup semi-final, after his late penalty against Celtic had guaranteed the thrilling prospect of an all-Edinburgh final.

He, too, might be off this summer. However, the events of Saturday ensured that he has left a distinguished tread at Tynecastle, as have so many others.

Taken from the Scotsman