Arrival of Hearts youths is timely for John McGlynn and Raith Rovers

Richard Wilson

Sports writer

Thursday 8 December 2011

C omments on a fans forum have little chance of troubling John McGlynn.

Jason Holt, centre, is expected to become a first-team regular when he returns to Hearts

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Richard Wilson

Some disgruntled Raith Rovers supporters called for the manager to resign as they fell to the bottom of the first division, but he is too dutiful to be affected by the criticism. McGlynn is a manager so immersed in the scope of his job that when the club hired a cherry picker so that grass could be cleaned from the stadium's gutters, McGlynn volunteered to do the work.

He is placid in nature, so that when Raith were challenging for the title for much of last season, McGlynn never lost his poise. Now that the challenge is to prevent the club succumbing to relegation, he remains even-tempered. "I don't see any reason to panic," he says firmly. His conviction is based upon the merits he identifies in his players, but also the tightness of a division that sees Partick Thistle, in fourth place, sitting only five points ahead of Raith.There was also the fillip of Hearts sending three of their most promising young players to Stark's Park on loan until January. David Smith and Jason Holt scored when making their debuts in a 3-2 victory over Hamilton Academical last month, while Jamie Walker also joined a fourth Hearts player, the striker Denis Prychynenko, who was already on loan until January.The trio made an immediate impact, even beyond their goals. There was a novelty in the squad suddenly being augmented, but also the motivation generated by the arrival of three talented, if inexperienced, young players. "The new lads coming in create a bit more competition, a freshness, so that brings a new challenge to everyone," McGlynn says.Having spent 10 years at Tynecastle, with much of that time spent working with the youth squads, McGlynn was entrusted with developing all four players with a view to them returning to Hearts in January. The expectation is that the club will move on several high-earners during the transfer window – with Janos Balogh agreeing the early termination of his contract yesterday – and the likes of Smith and Holt will become first-team players."I saw many players go into the first-team, like Christophe Berra and Craig Gordon, who ended up playing in the Premiership," McGlynn says. "But you can play in reserve games, under-19 games, bounce games and just not know [how they will cope] until they go in. You need experienced players around them, though, and it's well-documented that Hearts are trying to get their players who are on big wages out, with the anticipation that they're going to put the younger lads in."Having worked beside John Murray throughout his time at Hearts, McGlynn is convinced that his move from being head of the club's academy to director of football is a positive one for the club. Murray was responsible for the recruitment of the young players, as well as their development, and if they are to be pushed into the first-team squad, then Murray is the right figure to oversee their progress."John knows everything there is to know about them," McGlynn says. "I see it as a very positive step, John knows everything there is to know about Hearts, having been there for 17 years. It's a big step to take control of the whole club, but it's one he's very capable of doing."Smith and Walker are two wide attackers, who are quick, direct and prepared to try to commit defenders. Holt is more of a playmaker, with good vision and awareness, while Prychynenko scored regularly for Hearts' under-19 side. For McGlynn, who is adamant his team can discover the form needed to move away from danger, their arrival was timely.When his team lost 1-0 at home to Ayr United last month, sending them to the bottom of the first division, the home fans booed the players off the pitch. A fans' site on the internet then saw posters call for McGlynn to be removed from his job, despite leading Raith out of the second division and to a Scottish Cup semi-final."That's the nature of the beast," McGlynn says. "But I've got my own mind and I get on with what I have to do. I never look on fans' forums, so these things will never affect me. We've not been doing an awful lot wrong."

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Arrival of Hearts youths is timely for John McGlynn and Raith Rovers

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