Frail fights backs against critics of his time as Hearts boss

STEPHEN FRAIL has mounted an impassioned defence of his Hearts tenure in the wake of criticism from supporters, rejecting out of hand suggestions that he had lost respect within the dressing-room.

Unsure of Vladimir Romanov's plans for him this summer, Frail spoke to the Evening News stressing his desire to remain at Tynecastle in some capacity. His contract expires in a matter of weeks and Romanov has yet to announce details of the club's management structure for next season.

The former full-back will continue as interim manager until told otherwise, a role he insists has not damaged his credibility. Hearts finished their bottom-six fixtures with defeat to Gretna on Tuesday night but Frail maintains that results between January and the SPL split prove he had the squad's respect.

In a candid interview, he explained his willingness to co-operate with foreign players who were allowed to return home before the season had ended. Frail said he did everything in his power to help the team despite being personally chastised by a section of the support.

"I had to try and manage the situation as best I can. I tried to get results," he stated. "The discipline is always a problem. People say the players didn't respect me, I know they did because I got results. Whether or not that keeps me in a job, I don't know. I do know that, whatever happens, I can hold my head up high. I can assure all the Hearts fans that I worked my backside off 24-7 to try and make a success of it.

"Of course I want to stay, I'm not sure how many other people want that now when I listen to the fans. But I know what job I've done with the group of players we had. We went from second bottom to within touching distance of the top six, losing our top goalscorer (Andrius Velicka) in that period. I've said often that our results between January and the split would have had us in third."

Frail adhered to the personal wishes of certain players by letting them begin their summer break earlier than others. He dismissed the notion that his decisions had fostered any ill-feeling amongst those who stayed.

"Of the foreign lads, I've come and gone with all of them. They've all had an extra day here or there depending on circumstances so there shouldn't be any resentment. I tried to manage each case differently and one or two went home early. Fernando Screpis played on Tuesday night and left on Wednesday morning, because he has a long flight to Argentina.

"Christos Karipidis also went early and Miko's wife was due their baby so that's why he went back to Lithuania last week. The rest of the guys who were fit were all training on Wednesday and then were given their fitness programmes for the summer before saying goodbye to one another."

Neil McCann and Ibrahim Tall have left Tynecastle for the final time. McCann has joined Falkirk on a two-year contract while Tall is now back in France seeking a new club after his contract expired.

Speaking about his move, McCann said: "The organisation and ethic of what John (Hughes, manager), Brian (Rice, assistant) and George (Craig, managing director) are trying to do to take Falkirk places is exactly why I took the step to be here."