Gordon faces Hearts 'show trial'

By Ewing Grahame

The latest instalment of the Tynecastle show trials takes place this morning when goalkeeper and club captain Craig Gordon attends a disciplinary hearing chaired by Pedro Lopez, who holds the nebulous title of director of infrastructure at Hearts.

Supporters will fear the worst following the treatment of former captain Steven Pressley, whose contract was terminated earlier this month following a similar meeting.

Scotland defender Pressley had hijacked a pre-match press conference to reveal divisions in the dressing room and the players' concern with the way the club were being run.

The 33-year-old was flanked by midfielder Paul Hartley and Gordon that afternoon, although only Pressley spoke.

Last Thursday, Hartley was summoned before Lopez, widely viewed as the hands-on troubleshooter for absent owner Vladimir Romanov, and although details of that encounter have yet to be made public, the Scotland playmaker was left out of the side who lost at home to Aberdeen on Saturday.

It was the latest disappointment in a campaign which continues to unravel.

Pressley is expected to join leaders Celtic next month, Hartley looks certain to be sold before the transfer window closes and now fans are concerned that Gordon, their most saleable asset, will also leave.

However, Jim Duffy, sacked by Lopez and Romanov as director of football in March, believes that the current regime are unlikely to take the ultimate sanction in this instance.

"Craig is the only irreplaceable player at Hearts," he said. "He's worth more than anyone else but I don't think they'll want to alienate the crowd any further.

"They've only just made him captain, and the fact they didn't hand the armband to Hartley, who had been vice-captain, tells you what they think of him, so I imagine he'll escape with a censure.

"Even if they were to drop Craig, or even sell him, it wouldn't be the final straw. Managers have gone, the captain has gone and [coach] John McGlynn has gone but they still had a full house against Aberdeen.

"Those fans seem to have accepted that Mr Romanov has bought the club and can therefore do what he likes with it. It's sad, but 14,000 season tickets were sold on the success of last season and the promises made last summer and those people, having paid for their seats, are going to continue to turn up."

Hearts have won just one of their last 11 matches, slipping to fifth place in the SPL. On Saturday they travel to Tannadice to face a resurgent Dundee United.

Gordon is not the only player under scrutiny. Vyacheslav Hleb, the younger brother of Arsenal midfielder Alexandr, has arrived in Edinburgh for a two-week trial with Hearts.

The striker previously played for Grasshopper Zurich and Hamburg but is now with Belarussian club MTZ-RIPO Minsk, who are also owned by Romanov.

Celtic hope to remove midfielder Alan Thompson from the wage bill next month. Thompson, who turns 33 on Friday, is one of the highest-paid players at Parkhead but has been ostracised to the extent that he has not even been selected as a substitute this season.

Second-placed Aberdeen have made a surprising attempt to sign striker Craig Brewster. The 40-year-old has not played competitively since September, a month before he was dismissed as player-manager of Dundee United.

Kilmarnock and St Mirren are also interested in enlisting his services but Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood, who worked with Brewster at Dunfermline, is optimistic that his persuasiveness will prevail.

"Craig could make a big difference to our chances of getting that European spot," he said. "I spoke to him over the weekend and hope it will work out positively for us.

"He has a few choices and the biggest difference between their offers and ours is that he won't be guaranteed a game every week at Aberdeen. He's been told he would be seen as back-up to Lee Miller and would have to battle for a regular spot along with the other strikers."

Dundee forward Andy McLaren, 33, could be sacked by the First Division club today after receiving three red cards for violent conduct and dissent in Saturday's match against Clyde. He faces a 10-match suspension.

Taken from telegraph.co.uk