Pull not a push made McGlynn quit Hearts

THE "Heart of Midlothian FC" pencil which he uses to scrawl down Raith Rovers squad lists is not the only thing John McGlynn has taken from his time with the club. As well as 11 years of priceless experience, McGlynn can savour memories of dining on board Vladimir Romanov's luxury yacht.

Such thoughts supply succour as he calculates how many laundry baskets the budget can afford in this other world McGlynn now inhabits across the Forth. Yesterday morning the new manager at Raith had only six full-time professionals at training, a number supplemented by a few members of Robbie Raeside's youth squad. But there were still only enough bodies for a seven a-side game, and this on a muddy public park. It is far from the state-of-the-art facilities enjoyed by over 50 first-team squad members at the Hearts training academy.
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"I know the place has corroded a wee bit over the years," he says of the Second Division club.

"Although we don't have a lot of money we are tidying things up and trying to be a bit more professional. This includes silly little things like buying laundry baskets, and putting kit in its proper place rather than leaving it in piles all across the floor." After a long stint as a lieutenant at Hearts, McGlynn is now very much the general at Raith. Though the circumstances are straightened in comparison to what he could expect in his previous life, the time was right to move. It's clear immediately why the club should prove so attractive to him.

The smell of toast assaults the senses on entry, part of the bonhomie at a club which has always won prizes for warm welcomes. Unfortunately this has tended to be the case on the pitch as well as off it. Without a home win since March, Raith know what is required tomorrow when they entertain Dumbarton in the second round of the Tennent's Scottish Cup. McGlynn is aware how much a cup run could mean to Raith, and hopes some of the fortune he has enjoyed in the competition will rub off on his players.

The last time McGlynn held the trophy in his hands was only six months ago, when the promises of the Romanov revolution appeared to be realised after the penalty shoot-out win over Gretna. As assistant to Valdas Ivanauskas, McGlynn could take special pride in the achievement, particularly since he had held the fort on two occasions that season. He didn't, however, receive a medal. "Valdas got one," he explains. "But I know I was there. Things like medals are superficial to me. Every Hearts fan knows I was there. The players know I was there. That means more to me. I was part of it."

He was also present this season as the club almost willfully refused to build on the achievement, with controversies again a daily occurrence. McGlynn stresses there were more pull factors involved in his arrival at Raith than there were push ones. The confidentiality agreement he struck with Romanov restricts what he can say. However, it is clear that even without this motivation to keep quiet he has none of the resentment that might be attributed to certain other former members of staff. He knows, too, how helpful his contacts at Hearts might prove. With first-choice goalkeeper Michael Brown's having dislocated his shoulder last weekend McGlynn has been seeking to tie-up Tynecastle youngster Jamie McDonald.

"I learned so much," he says of his time with Hearts. "They were the best 11 years of my working life. I did so many things I would never otherwise have done - going to Braga, Bordeaux, Rotterdam, Basle and of course the cup final. Even going on Mr Romanov's yacht in the summer - it was like a five-star hotel on the sea.

"I had a meeting with [director of infrastructure] Pedro Lopez and Mr Romanov on the day I left the club. He [Romanov] was very nice. He thanked me for all the service I had given the club, and the times when I had stood in as caretaker manager. I have not heard from him since, and do not really expect to. They were happy times, but I have made the decision to come here."

The ambition to strike out on his own had gently burned inside him for six months.

"It was time for John McGlynn to go out and test himself, and see if he can hack it at management level," he says. "I was learning my trade with Hearts. I knew having not had a successful playing career I needed to build up my reputation, and then people would maybe take a chance on me. As years go on, you get itchy feet. Winning the cup last year and also qualifying for the Champions League qualifiers was a great draw to stay at Hearts. Unfortunately it didn't last long, and neither did our UEFA Cup campaign. That's when I knew it was time to go it alone."

There remains the possibility that a cup win tomorrow might be followed by the kind of quirky draw in which the competition excels - a trip back to Gorgie.

"I don't want to be disrespectful to Dumbarton - we have to get past them first," he says. But reverie soon gets the better of him. He enthuses: "Hearts would be the ideal draw - 18,000 at Tynecastle! Something like that could set this club up for the next couple of seasons."

Taken from the Scotsman