Interview: John McGlynn, new Hearts manager

By MOIRA GORDON
Published on 01/07/2012 00:00

HE IS, in many ways, a man of his times. Someone who has had to work his way up through the ranks, and then head off to prove himself elsewhere.

John McGlynn now goes back to Tynecastle hoping to make a his mark at SPL level with the Hearts first team.

It is a tale many of those he will be taking charge of can relate to. Many are graduates of the Gorgie club’s academy and learned their trade in the youth ranks before being farmed out for loan spells in the SFL. They too are now relishing the opportunity to prove themselves in the Tynecastle first team.

With all the uncertainty over the financial consequences of a Rangers-less top flight, and society’s wider economic hardships, the club is being true to its pledge to reduce running costs. That means like-for-like replacements for key players such as Ian Black, Rudi Skacel and Craig Beattie are unlikely. But, in McGlynn, Hearts have a manager who does not believe that money is the only route to success.

“If there was a script to be written then this is the one I would have picked – having worked through the youth ranks here, becoming assistant manager and then caretaker. I left for five years to go to a great football club, who were second-bottom of the Second Division and a sleeping giant within the SFL. Could I get them back to where they belong and restore pride? I think I can walk away with my head held high from having done that. I’ve come back up here to take up the reins and the challenge, having gained five years’ worth of experience of management.

“I took a gamble going to Raith. I took a massive financial cut when it would have been very easy to stay at Hearts in the number two role on a lot more. But I wasn’t money orientated and it’s the same today. I’m on more than I was on at Raith Rovers but I’m probably not getting the money that other Hearts managers got. But it’s about the opportunity that I get today and over the next few years – hopefully – to achieve something and rise to the challenge.”

That is the way McGlynn wants his players to look at it. Those he already has on the books and those he hopes to entice.

There will be money to add to the squad but it is limited and it will be invested in potential, whether that be young, promising starlets or older players, possibly returning from a set-back.

“The message is clearly that there’s no better time to be a young player at Heart of Midlothian”, said the man who was first brought to the club by Jim Jefferies, to work with the under-16s.

“I’m proud to be getting the opportunity to work with guys like Jamie Walker, Jason Holt, David Smith, Denis Prychynenko, Fraser Mullen – guys who have been on the fringes but who’ll need to stand up and be counted and go out there on the pitch next season.

“Guys like Craig Gordon and Christophe Berra have come through the system and gone on to play in the English Premiership, Eggert Jonsson as well. But, even before that, you look at the tradition the club had of rearing guys like John Robertson, Gary Mackay, Dave Bowman, Gary Locke, Paul Ritchie, Allan Johnston, the list goes on, but, perhaps in some ways, it’s been stifled recently. The door is now open. Any young player coming into a football club wants a chance, so it’s up to them to take it.”

They won’t have reputations to live up to but McGlynn knows the new kids on the block will have to earn respect. It will be the same for their manager.

“I think I would be respected for the work I did previously with the youths, the reserves, bringing players through, standing in, being honest, being upfront and working my socks off for Hearts for 11 years. People aren’t daft, they realise why I went to Raith Rovers, that it was an ambitious move. Now, hopefully, they’ll give me an opportunity to get the results and get them onside.”

Having served his apprenticeship, McGlynn assumed the caretaker role following George Burley’s abrupt departure in 2005 after an unbeaten start to the season. McGlynn believed he had an opportunity to claim the job on a permanent basis. Instead he has had to bide his time.

“I thought results, in the circumstances – Saturday morning George Burley is out, Saturday afternoon you’re playing Dunfermline – were good. It was a difficult situation, you then had “[chief executive] Phil Anderton? He’s no longer here”, “George Foulkes [chairman]? He’s no longer here. Then, before you know it, you are playing Kilmarnock in midweek. We managed to win both of those matches, the derby game didn’t go too well, but we recovered and won a very good game against Dundee United. I felt I had a good chance of getting the job, but it wasn’t to be.

“I was not a big player and I have had to overcome the hurdles of not being a big player. You look at people like John Robertson and others – legends at the club – I would always have to do more than those players to get opportunities because I was not a star player. I feel I have had to jump higher, go through hoops, and take longer to get to where I am today. Leaving Hearts, I knew I wasn’t going to go to any other SPL club because I was not a big player. I felt I had to go and cut my teeth as a manager and prove I could do the job.

But the Raith role has been worthwhile. Not only does McGlynn have an enhanced CV, he also has the experience of dealing with difficult situations, a small squad and a tight budget.

He remembers the days when Hearts had a squad of 70. “I’ve got a small squad to work with now. It’s quite a tight group. I remember the January window when a lot of players came in just before midnight. What I’m facing now, numbers-wise, is more like what I was used to at Raith.”

And his ambitions are the same. To try to win every match his team plays and see where that takes them.

“This is a transition and it is a testing time for Scottish football in general. But the message I am getting is that we expect to be competitive.”

It will take hard work. But McGlynn is a man who has always known he has no divine right.

Mcglynn’s in-tray

1 REPLACE IAN BLACK

The little midfielder was Hearts’ most influential player last season, most notably in the cup final demolition of Hibs. He will be sorely missed. There will be little cash to freshen up the squad so the onus could be on young Scott Robinson, right, to take a more influential role.

2 FIND A STRIKER

The departure of Stephen Elliott, Craig Beattie and Gary Glen leaves Hearts desperately short up front. With free-scoring midfielder Rudi Skacel also unlikely to sign a new deal McGlynn needs to find a new source of goals. John Sutton will return from a loan spell in Australia but he needs help.

3 MAINTAIN DERBY RECORD

Hearts visit Easter Road on the second weekend of the new SPL season defending an unbeaten derby record which has stretched to 11 games. McGlynn’s predecessor Paulo Sergio won four out of four against Hibs last season and there would be no better way for the new man to win over the fans than with a victory on 11 August.

4 SORT OUT THE BACKROOM TEAM

The likely arrival as assistant manager of Edgaras Jankauskas, above, smacks of a Romanov appointment. McGlynn has to make sure first-team coach Gary Locke is not alienated by the Lithuanian’s arrival.