Plain Scots fare now on menu at Tynecastle

Chief football writer

Saturday 9 June 2012

H EARTS have already drawn up a shortlist of possible replacements for Paulo Sergio.

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Michael Grant

The danger for them is that it could soon become shorter than they would wish. Managing Hearts is as big a job as it was for Sergio, but from now on it isn't going to pay so well. Almost half of his salary was subsidised by the terms of his severance package from previous club Sporting Lisbon. In effect, Hearts appointed a manager they would not normally have been able to afford. This time the wages on offer will be far more modest, a fact that will be reflected in the experience and credentials of those who might want to take it.

Another Portuguese, Jose Couceiro, was the bookmakers' favourite last night, but if Hearts cannot afford Sergio, are they likely to successfully pursue his friend, who has substantial clubs such as Sporting Lisbon and Lokomotiv Moscow on his curriculum vitae?And given that Ian Black and Rudi Skacel have gone from Tynecastle and Craig Beattie will probably follow, Sergio isn't likely to tell Couceiro that it's a promising time to take over.So who, then? Paul Hartley and Colin Cameron are emerging managerial talents with a Hearts background, and Steven Pressley is even further down the same path. All are contenders. And then there is John McGlynn, who perhaps ticks even more of the boxes required by owner Vladimir Romanov and his directors.McGlynn twice held the Hearts job on a caretaker basis, after the departures of John Robertson and George Burley. His Hearts background extends far further back than that, to 1996 when Jim Jefferies brought him into the club's youth coaching system in a part-time capacity which evolved into more significant roles.McGlynn, 50, would not be an appointment that would grab the imagination of most Hearts supporters, but he is a talented coach who would inevitably embrace the chance to step up from Raith Rovers.Whoever it is, Sergejus Fedotovas, the Hearts director, said last night the club would hope to have the new man in before the players return for pre-season training on July 2. "Paulo did a great job, he brought a lot of new things into the coaching routine and playing strategies and we wish to continue progressing with best practices," Fedotovas said. "We will consider everything very carefully before making a decision. The process is under way but is at a very early stage. We know that in the interests of having the best possible preparation for the new season, a new manager should be in place as soon as possible."We believe it will not take long before we announce an appointment, but we will not rush in to it just for the sake of it. The players will be reporting back for pre-season in early July so it would be realistic to think we will have a new manager in place by then. It is a period of silence now in football with all deals."Since Romanov bought the club, he has appointed, on a permanent basis, George Burley, Graham Rix, Valdas Ivanauskas, Anatoliy Korobochka, Csaba Laszlo, Jefferies and Sergio: seven men from six different countries."We cannot rule anyone in or out at this stage," Fedotovas added. "We anticipate a lot of interest in the role as it is a very attractive job in Scottish football and with the added incentive of European football again, we are expecting lots of candidates."We are open-minded when it comes to searching for a new manager; we are not bothered about their nationality. It's about a person who brings true professionalism to the club and someone who can match the ambitions and goals that we're looking to achieve. "We still have a reasonably strong team that can achieve a good result and provide good emotions for our fans. We must learn how to punch above our weight and we have seen clubs in Scotland perfectly capable of that. If we anticipate that our weight is third place in the league then we must seek more, not settle for a third. This is the mentality we will be looking for with the new appointment. "The club has made it clear that, going forward, it has to be more careful with its finances and that goes for the management as well as the playing side. We would like to reiterate our thanks to him [Sergio] and his coaching staff, Alberto Cabral and Sergio Cruz, for bringing the Scottish Cup back to Edinburgh and providing so many happy memories for so many Hearts fans."

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Plain Scots fare now on menu at Tynecastle

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