Pressure Getting To McGlynn?

By Ed_Scottishfitba
Updated Thursday, 6th December 2012

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The mild mannered demeanour of John McGlynn hides some body working under pressure

hearts
Despite recent history regarding the manager's position, John McGlynn is confident he is still the man to revive financially stricken Hearts. Hearts will not hang onto the Scottish Cup won under McGlynn's predecessor Paulo Sergio after losing, at the first hurdle, with a 1-0 loss to Hibs last Sunday. The cup-winning team was decimated with Sergio and a number of players leaving the club after the Hampden success as part of cost-cutting measures. There has been some good news on the finance front this week after a winding-up order instigated by HMRC has been avoided and an agreement has been reached over the repayment of another tax demand. Amid the numerous elements of their financial problems, Hearts have toiled on the field and are currently ninth in the SPL ahead of Saturday's game with Aberdeen.

McGlynn said: "I've got a two-year contract. I intend to see that out. No one puts me under any more pressure than myself. I don't like losing, I don't like the situation. It's fire-fighting every single day. You just dust yourself down and get on with it. The biggest fight is for Hearts to survive. That is the priority."

McGlynn has taken encouragement from this week's off-field developments and believes he may even be allowed to operate in the transfer market next month, something he has been unable to do so far. Hearts are currently under a player registration embargo, in force until 23 December, imposed due to delayed payment of wages. McGlynn is under no illusion that the pressure to keep costs under control can be ignored and he recognises some players may leave before he can bring fresh faces in. The former Raith manager has taken encouragement from the way Craig Brown has stabilised Aberdeen in his two years at Pittodrie and believes it is a situation which he can emulate if he is given time.

McGlynn said: "I certainly do, if we're allowed to be able to bring in the players we feel are going to benefit, albeit on less wages. I think we can probably get other players that will do a good job, for probably less money. We have to recognise where players within our existing squad may leave, because of freedom of contract, and Sergejus (director Sergejus Fedotovas) says there might be something happening in January, so I take it some players will need to go then. If it's a position we find ourselves short in, we need to prioritise the positions we need. Striker is a priority. If we had the striker I feel that we need, I think we'd be sitting in a much healthier position. We've done a lot of stuff right and I think we've played well in games, but we haven't scored goals."

Callum Paterson appears to be the man McGlynn is attempting to mould into the finished article required, while Lithuania striker Arturas Rimkevicius was today linked with a move to Tynecastle. However, the assembled press reminded McGlynn that he still has John Sutton in his squad. Sutton was signed from Motherwell by Jim Jefferies but fell out of favour under Sergio and spent much of last season on loan at Central Coast Mariners in Australia and remains a peripheral figure. McGlynn's reaction was terse when he said: "How many goals did he score last year? Was he proven last year? No. How long do you want to go back?"