Hearts confirm appointment of John McGlynn as new manager

HEARTS have confirmed the appointment of John McGlynn as their new manager.

The 50-year-old leaves his position at Raith Rovers to take up the post at Tynecastle, where he was previously employed as a coach for ten years.

McGlynn replaces Scottish Cup-winning coach Paulo Sergio in the Gorgie hot-seat, after the Portuguese turned down a reduced contract offer with the club earlier this month.

McGlynn first joined Hearts in 1996 and had two spells as caretaker manager in 2005, before acting as assistant boss to Valdas Ivanauskas the following year when the club won the Scottish Cup.

He quit Hearts in November 2006 to take over as manager at Raith and guided the Kirkcaldy club to the Second Division title in 2009.

With Hearts set to operate on a vastly-reduced budget next season, McGlynn’s ability to develop young players was a major factor in his appointment.

A Hearts spokesperson said: “We are delighted to announce the arrival of John McGlynn as manager of Heart of Midlothian FC.

“Understandably the post attracted interest from around the globe and the quality of the applications made it a difficult decision.

“John’s track record, though, in developing young players is outstanding and one of the key criteria for the appointment was an ability to successfully integrate youngsters into a senior squad which can compete competitively at the top end of the table.

“He also knows the club intimately having previously spent 10 years as a coach here and we are confident he can take the club forward and build on the success of last season’s William Hill Scottish Cup triumph.

“We would also like to put on record our appreciation of Raith Rovers’ co-operation in this matter and wish them all the best for the forthcoming season.”

McGlynn becomes the tenth manager of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov’s reign. His coaching team is yet to be finalised although first-team coach Gary Locke will play a part after the club previously confirmed he’d remain at the club following Sergio’s departure.

McGlynn will be officially unveiled by Hearts on Thursday.