Hearts want ‘winning mentality’

John McGlynn was doing just that, having led his young team to the Scottish Communities League Cup final – but he yesterday paid the price for Hearts’ poor league form when he lost his job.

In little over a fortnight’s time, McGlynn could have been only the fourth Hearts manager in 50 years to win a major trophy when they face St Mirren at Hampden.

But, instead, Hearts are looking for their 11th permanent manager in less than eight years since John Robertson became the first victim of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov’s demands.

A fourth consecutive  defeat, the 2-0 loss at St Mirren Park on Wednesday night, saw McGlynn lose his job the following morning and the cash-strapped club may have been looking to appease disgruntled  supporters as they look for big attendances to help their financial crisis.

First team coach Gary Locke and player development manager Darren Murray will take charge of the SPL clash with Motherwell at Tynecastle tomorrow where anything less than victory will almost certainly end their slim hopes of making the top six.

Southern said: “Hearts, I believe, have the second-highest playing salary bill and we should be performing much better than we are. For Hearts to be sitting in 11th place, the results don’t lie.

“In some ways John in particular but the club itself has been the victim of its own success. We are a club that is used to winning trophies and challenging for silverware.

“That brings with it  additional pressure and  responsibility but with that it brings the need to make tough decisions at times.

“But we are confident that we can regain the high ground and that Heart of Midlothian can work towards where it should be, towards the top of the table.

“But every single employee, every single player, every single coach, must work at that. There can’t be anyone that we carry at this stage. We must all work together for a common purpose and we must re-engage the winning mentality.

“This club is used to winning and we will continue to strive to do everything we can to continue that winning mentality.”