tyncastle GaMe On – Or is it?
Hearts say their Main Stand has passed inspection – then declare it has still to be 100% rubber-stamped
The on-off-on saga of Hearts’ meeting with Partick Thistle dragged on into this morning.
At 9pm last night, the Tynecastle club released a statement, suggesting that after round-the-clock work on its new Main Stand, it looked like they had been given the green light.
But it added a proviso that the final decision would not be made until just seven hours before the match was due to kick-off.
The statement read: “The club is delighted to announce that we have our temporary occupation certificate for the new stand.
“Subject to a final safety check at 8am, the game will kick off at 3pm tomorrow afternoon.”
Fans on Twitter blasted the scenario as “e m b a r ra s s i n g”, “disgraceful”, and “a shambles”.
It’s certainly not turned out as Ann Budge (left) would have hoped.
Tynecastle will undergo one more safety check this morning, but Hearts appear to have won their race against time to re-open their ground for the visit of Partick Thistle.
The Jambos secured the first part of the approval needed from the City of Edinburgh Council to open their new main stand.
In a statement published around 9pm last night, Hearts said: “The club is delighted to announce that we have our temporary occupation certificate for the new stand.
“Subject to a final safety check at 8am, the game will kick off at 3pm tomorrow afternoon. We thank you all for your patience.”
Hearts still need a safety certificate but are confident one will be forthcoming after working round the clock to get the game on.
Owner Ann Budge had claimed a “final visit” from council officials would take place at noon on Saturday but an already lengthy saga went into extra-time.
Budge had admitted on Friday that some areas of the new stand were a “building site” but enough progress has been made to pass the first hurdle.
The stand was originally scheduled to open for the visit of Aberdeen on September 9.
But the club failed to order seats in time and swapped a home game with Thistle while setting up temporary home at BT Murrayfield, initially for three matches.
A further delay meant a fourth home game, against Kilmarnock, was moved to the home of Scottish rugby.
But the stadium is unavailable this weekend with the national team in the midst of their autumn series.
It became clear early this week that Hearts were facing a battle to meet their
latest deadline and Thistle made the point on Saturday morning that the continuing uncertainty was “deeply frustrating”.
Firhill winger Steven Lawless articulated their exasperation as they waited for word from Edinburgh.
Writing on Twitter, he said: “Any chance!!!! Not had to wait this late for confirmation of my game being on, since I was under 10s at Mill Utd.”
Meanwhile, Hearts manager Craig Levein insists Michael O’Neill is the standout candidate for the Scotland job.
The Hearts boss is acutely aware of the challenges and suffocating pressure of the top job at Hampden, having managed his country to little avail between 2009 and 2012.
He recalls one of the toughest challenges was making the step from the 24-hour demands of club coaching to being in charge of a nation.
With O’Neill already boasting six years’ experience in the Northern Ireland job – reaching the last 16 of Euro 2016 in their first major tournament since 1986 – Levein feels like he is the ready-made successor to Gordon Strachan.
The SFA are expected to hold talks with O’Neill, who resides in Edinburgh, in the coming week.
“I think he’d be a fantastic choice,” lauded Levein.
“The difference with Michael is that he’s done it. So that takes one of the major elements of risk out of it.
“It’s such a different job. It’s day-to-day, foot-to-the-floor – then you play ONE game. That’s followed by months and months of visiting training grounds and watching players.”
Ahead of the expected meeting with Partick Thistle today, Jambos midfielder Arnaud Djoum has branded the coaching style of previous manager Ian Cathro ‘confusing’ and believes the players are benefiting from the clarity of Levein.
Cathro was sacked following a miserable eight-month stint in charge, having tried and failed to rebuild the squad into to a fluent, continental 3-4-3 system.
“It is totally different now. The way he is working is more simple and everyone knows what they need to do,” said the Cameroon internationalist.
“With the previous manager (Ian Cathro), he would talk a lot about the small details and sometimes make you a bit confused.
“Craig is more simple and clear and that is maybe better for the young players and squad, as we know what we need to do.
“The ideas of the previous manager were good, but the way the players understood was not very clear.
“I think the way he wanted to play is not always the best way to play in Scotland. It is direct football here.”