Pastures New For McGlynn May Leave Huge Gap At Tynecastle

On Thursday McGlynn made his emotional goodbyes to the Hearts players and staff after more than a decade with the Gorgie outfit to embark on a new career at Raith Rovers. He's worked under seven managers at Tynecastle - five of those in the last two year and has even stepped in as caretaker himself on occasion when the need arose. He was a hugely popular figure with both the players and supporters, who could see that he had the club's best interests at heart. His departure will have come as another blow to morale in the dressing room and, despite the return of Ivanauskas, Rousset also warned that the language barrier will become an even bigger obstacle now that the only natural English-speaking coach on the first-team staff has left.

Rousset said: "It is a real pity that John McGlynn has left because he was with the club for many years. He was working with Hearts when I was a player there. I think that he was the man that the players trusted and he was a very good servant to the club, he worked his socks off for them. The fact that he is leaving could affect the players because he was the only English-speaker on the first-team coaching staff. How can you speak to the players about tactics when you can't speak English very well? I just don't see how they can get their feelings and instructions across properly. Because of everything he has been through with Hearts I think he will be a good manager in his own right. There have been so many things going on that he has had to deal with and so many difficult situations that he will have learned a lot."