Jose Goncalves to decide on contract

JOSE Goncalves is expected to decide today whether to agree to a new deal with Hearts. Manager Jim Jefferies insisted yesterday that the club had made the defender "a fantastic offer", and revealed there were a couple of times in the last few days when he thought he and the player had reached an agreement.

"All I can say to everyone, even though the club have made him a fantastic offer, (is that] Jose is the one that is making it more difficult," Jefferies said. "He has his reasons.

"The other night I was here till nine o'clock. I had a meeting from five to nine o'clock and I said to Billy (Brown, assistant manager in waiting] I was 75 per cent sure he was about there.

"I continued that the next morning and we were almost there, but I think he wants more time, to Friday, to think about it rather than being pressurised going into it. As soon as that is resolved he will be available.

"Since the last time I spoke to him we have made progress, and there are a couple of things that I managed to sort out that helped the situation, so it's about him now showing the commitment to doing it. He has been made a great offer and that's the bit I find frustrating.

"It's not about the money. It must be about something else. I am trying to sort it out."

Jefferies also said that Brown and first-team coach Gary Locke had moved closer to agreeing contracts with Hearts. The pair have been working at the club unofficially since the manager took over last month.

"They went down the other day and discussed it all, and they have taken it away to look over. I think it's a matter of them saying yes, they are happy with all the things that are put down," said Jefferies.

"I expect that to be tied up on their side. They have had all the talk – it was a case of taking it away and making sure everything was right."