Hearts: ‘Nightmare for Gary Locke in his dream job’

DAVID WEIR shared what he still regards as one of his happiest days in football with Gary Locke, looking on in delight at Celtic Park 15 years ago when his injured colleague stepped forward to lift the Scottish Cup.

Hearts’ 2-1 victory over Rangers that sun-drenched afternoon ended a 36-year wait to win a major trophy for the Tynecastle club and few people savoured it more than dyed-in-the-wool Jambo Locke.

Weir, who left Hearts for Everton less than a year after playing in that cup final triumph, has retained a close bond with the current Hearts manager. The pair sat their coaching courses together and Weir has the highest regard for the 37-year-old’s ability in that sphere.

As Weir prepares to begin his own managerial career at Sheffield United, he has expressed his dismay at the unfolding crisis at Hearts which comes so soon after another of his former clubs, Rangers, suffered their own financial meltdown.

Weir’s immediate concern when he heard the news that Hearts were going into administration was for Locke who now faces an uncertain future so soon after landing his dream job.

“It’s very sad,” said Weir. “Gary Locke is a friend of mine, so I feel for him in respect of having to deal with it. Knowing what has gone on at Rangers for the past couple of years, my main feelings are for Gary at the moment.

“He would rather be concentrating on football but he is going to have to answer questions about a lot of information he doesn’t really know a lot about. It is an extreme situation for Gary. But you don’t have an endless pot of money as a football manager, you have to understand the financial side of it and the business model you are operating under. You have to try and buy into it, rather than fighting it.

“Gary is definitely someone I would have considered approaching to be part of my own backroom staff. I’ve known him for a long time. He is a very good coach and has definitely got the qualities I would work with. But he is the manager of Hearts and was doing very well there at the end of the season. He is in the job he always wanted to be in.

“It is going to be really difficult for him now. For anyone to be 15 points down right away, as Hearts will be at the start of the season now, it is psychologically very difficult to manage that situation. It’s not a lost cause and I’m sure Gary will be saying he would like to think they could catch it up. But with the best will in the world, it’s going to be really difficult. I’d be very surprised if he felt it was a lost cause, though, because that’s not the right way to approach it.”

Weir, like many other observers, has feared the worst for Hearts for some time. Alarm bells started ringing in the former Scotland defender’s head when he returned to Scottish football six years ago at Rangers.

“I was aware from the rumour mill in football that Hearts were paying big wages and I remember thinking it didn’t seem like a sustainable model with the sort of crowds they were getting,” reflected Weir.

“But I was an amateur, and still am, in terms of financial matters and you tend to take everything at face value. That’s maybe where we have gone wrong in the past. We have spent money that we didn’t have or promised to pay it back whenever, without really worrying about the consequences. There needs to be more realism in looking at the longer term. You won’t get a better example than what has happened at Rangers and now Hearts.

“It is a tragedy that a great football club like Hearts is getting dragged through the mud and having its name tarnished in that respect. It’s not the first one in Scotland, obviously, and it’s a big problem that needs to be addressed.

“I didn’t think that Scottish football could afford to lose Rangers from the SPL last year. I’m sure there will be conflicting views on fitting punishments for whatever has happened.

“I’m not an expert in regards to how it should pan out but we can’t afford to lose Hearts and Rangers and clubs like that from the top level of Scottish football because they are our top clubs, there’s no getting away from it.

“Along with a few others, they are the top clubs, they produce the players that the fans want to go and watch. And if that doesn’t happen or it’s reduced, then the whole game will suffer.

“I think there already is a loss of credibility for Scottish football. It’s going to take Rangers longer and if Hearts drop out, then to be missing two clubs like them from the top division, it’s a massive loss and it’s not for the good of the game.”

Weir expects the Hearts supporters to play a similar role to their Rangers counterparts in ensuring their club can survive their insolvency event.

“The Hearts fans won’t let their club down,” added Weir. “That is all they have known. People have got a strong feeling for their football club here, it is part of their life, part of their day-to-day operations.

“If something bad happens to their club, they take it personally. It is a terrible thing which has happened in regard to where they are and the possible ramifications of it.

“The first reaction of the Hearts fans will be to come out fighting and do what they can to stop it getting any worse. But, as we know from experience, it’s not quite as easy as that.

“It will be a journey, there is no doubt about that. It is difficult to tell, we only have Rangers as a benchmark but what I would say is that you cannot take away their history and can’t take away the feeling that people have for the club.

“Hearts and Rangers have an unbelievable fanbase. There will be an interest in the club and that won’t change, regardless of what league they are in, but the process will take time and the assets will be stripped. Things will change and it will definitely take longer to rebuild than it did to take them away.”

Taken from the Scotsman