Keeping Gordon has to be goal

HENRY SMITH today insisted that Hearts could never afford to deal Craig Gordon the same punishment which befell team-mate Steven Pressley. Gordon was set to face a disciplinary meeting with club chiefs at Tynecastle today after giving his public backing to then-skipper Pressley in October as he read out a prepared statement declaring significant unrest in the Tynecastle dressing room.

That particular show of defiance lead to Pressley being stripped of the armband and released by Hearts as his war of wills with owner Vladimir Romanov escalated irreparably.

Former Hearts keeper Smith, though, believes Gordon is too valuable an asset to find himself turfed out of the club like Pressley or relegated to the bench as has happened to fellow Pressley backer Paul Hartley in recent weeks.

The 23-year-old keeper was made club captain last week after Pressley was freed from his contract and took the armband for the first time since his appointment in the 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen on Saturday.

Dons striker Steve Lovell scored the crucial only goal with just three minutes remaining after Gordon could only parry a low shot from former Hearts player Scott Severin. Gordon himself was absolved of any blame for the goal by Hearts head coach Valdas Ivanauskas and has without doubt been one of the most consistent performers in a maroon jersey over the last few seasons, also establishing himself as Scotland's first-choice keeper in the process.

And Smith believes Gordon has made himself almost indispensable with a string of outstanding displays for his side: "The fact that they have made Craig captain hopefully says something about the decision that they will come to.

"Craig is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, assets that the club have and so I don't think they can afford to go down the same road that they did with Steven.

"He has just signed a long-term deal with the club and I am sure that they will want to hang onto him.

"He is in a very strong position at the club at the moment, but he has earned that with the performances that he has been putting in. He wins them so many games and saves them so many points every season and I think you could probably count on one hand the number of mistakes that he has made while in goal for the club.

"I don't think that it is any secret that people have been watching him, that other clubs have been looking at him with a view to coming in for him at some stage in the future.

"Hearts won't want to lose him, having said all that though, the owner is the owner and you can never second guess what he is going to do. Certainly the club's supporters and the other players will definitely be hoping that he stays for as long as possible."

While Smith acknowledges that there will be no public statement as to the outcome of the meeting he hopes that Gordon and the club will be able to put the whole episode to bed after this week.

Saturday's defeat to Aberdeen saw them slip to fifth place in the SPL and Smith says it is time for the club to start concentrating on football matters again.

The Tynecastle side travel to face a rejuvenated Dundee United on Saturday under Hearts' former manager Craig Levein.

The Tannadice outfit have won three of their last four SPL matches and have dragged themselves ten points clear of bottom side Dunfermline and the importance of focusing on matters on the park is not lost on Smith who added: "I am hoping that he will just get a slap on the wrists but I am sure that whatever happens we won't really get any answers.

"They have kept it all behind closed doors so far, neither the players or Fraser Wishart have come out and said anything.

"That's the way things are at the club right now, even the questions that Valdas was asked about the team selection before and after the game on Saturday weren't really answered.

"After this week is out of the way Craig and the club will be hoping that they can just put all of this behind them and get back to concentrating on the football. It all seems to have been dragged out a bit - there have been so many things going on since the club won the Scottish Cup.

"Things just seem to have gone downhill since then."

Smith admits that he is still to be convinced of the merits of appointing a goalkeeper as your captain but if anyone is capable of changing his mind about that then Gordon is the perfect candidate to fill the role Pressley took on with such passion.

He added: "To be honest, I have never been sure about goalkeepers being captain of a team and I think that the decision to appoint him comes down to the continental style of management at Tynecastle right now.

"But I still think that Craig is a good choice and a popular choice with the supporters because you want someone who can come in and galvanise the side and I think he can do that.

"He makes save after save and that must inspire a lot of confidence in the team as a whole.

"I think he is a strong-willed person and he speaks his mind as we saw when he came out to support Steven when he was making his statement. One of the most important qualities he has though is that, not only will he speak his mind, he will also listen to what others have got to say.

"The other players all respect him and I am sure that he will make sure that he gets his point of view across on the field and in the dressing-room.

"In terms of character, I don't really think that there is anyone better for the job right now."

Taken from the Scotsman