Hearts decide to pay off McLean

KEN GALLACHER, CHIEF FOOTBALL WRITER

19 Jul 1995

THE Tynecastle feud which has been simmering during the summer boiled over yesterday when Hearts announced that they were ready to buy out manager Tommy McLean's contract.

A statement issued by chairman Chris Robinson insisted that an offer had been made to the manager to end the problems which had dogged the relationship between him and the directors for months.

The statement maintained that McLean had frequently expressed his unhappiness and his readiness to go if a suitable settlement could be worked out.

Last night Robinson seemed sure that he and his fellow board members had gone a long way to meet the requirements of McLean, who signed a three-year contract last summer with a salary of £90,000 a year.

But there was no official response from McLean, who will, I understand, meet with his lawyer and accountant this weekend.

It seems that the offer falls far short of what he might be looking for from a contract which he signed in good faith after quitting the manager's job at Motherwell.

That could push Robinson and his board into a corner.

They have decided they want McLean out but, as yet, might not have come up with an acceptable settlement.

The troubles between McLean and the men who employed him just a year ago came early.

Having managed Motherwell to Scottish Cup success and guided them into Europe once more, he left Fir Park because of disagreements with the directors about spending.

Motherwell wanted to build a second new stand -- McLean wanted to strengthen his side for a premier-division title challenge.

McLean walked out.

Soon afterwards Robinson and Leslie Deans, the men who had bought out Wallace Mercer to take control of Hearts, persuaded him to join them as they tried to revive the club.

It was a challenge McLean accepted happily, fully expecting that he would have a free hand in the transfer market.

Instead, he found Hearts involved in the same stand-building operations as Motherwell, and when forced to sell Alan McLaren to Rangers, McLean was quickly disillusioned.

The new men in control claimed they had found more problems than anticipated and that ground rebuilding was a priority because of the Taylor Report and all its implications.

McLean felt he had been misled, possibly even betrayed, when he signed the three-year deal.

The board began to feel that they had an unhappy manager and that no progress could be made while he remained.

Since the end of the season McLean has looked at various team-building options and found himself thwarted by the lack of funds.

An opportunity to go to Holland to look for fresh talent at reasonable prices was vetoed by the directors, and that was one of the final disagreements which precipitated the present crisis.

Hearts now say they have made a good offer -- "This is not Mickey Mouse money," I was told last night -- but McLean, I understand, does not see things that way.

Meanwhile Hearts, with a £4m overdraft, drift closer and closer to crisis -- a far cry from the brave new world offered by Robinson and Deans when they assumed control.

As of last night, neither businessman Jim Glass, who has claimed he wants to take over the club, nor anyone else had approached Robinson with an offer.

Meanwhile, if McLean is bought off, Hearts must look for another manager -- and be ready to pay suitable compensation.

Taken from the Herald