CHRISTOPHE BERRA insisted today that Hearts can get back to the heights they hit two seasons ago – but only if the club's hierarchy pull out the stops now to appoint a new manager.
The Gorgie side won the Scottish Cup and qualified for the Champions League just a couple of years ago and, under George Burley, were undefeated in their opening ten games of the 2005/06 season.
Since then, however, the Tynecastle outfit have gon
e through the wringer on and off the park, and have lost skippers Steven Pressley and Craig Gordon over the space of the last 18 months.
The pair, backed by midfielder Paul Hartley, were involved in the now infamous "Riccarton Three" incident where they issued a public statement bemoaning the way that the club was being run and the team was being selected.
The club's fall from grace culminated last season in their slump to an eighth-place finish in the SPL and their preparations for the new campaign are once again in tatters as they continue to try to find a new manager.
After missing out on number one target Mark McGhee and seeing second choice Vladimir Weiss accept the Slovakian manager's job, Vladimir Romanov's reputation has taken another battering in recent days over his disgraceful treatment of interim head coach Stephen Frail.
Frail was left in the dark over his future for the length of the entire close season, only to turn up for the players' first day back for fitness testing last week to be told he was being placed on gardening leave.
Unfortunately it's an all too familiar scenario for the Hearts players, who have been used to disruption under the Lithuanian banker's leadership.
Berra, however, is hoping the search for a new boss will be coming to an end sooner rather than later, so the players will once again be allowed to concentrate on football.
Berra, who admits that his own future at Hearts is uncertain after being linked with moves to both Wolves and Rangers, said: "Hearts is a great club and have developed a lot of good young players over the years. Given that they get the right structure and the right management set-up, they will continue to do that.
"At the moment we don't have a manager so it is maybe a bit unstable, but I am sure that the club is working hard in the background to change that.
"Hopefully it won't be a rush decision and they will bring in someone who they believe can seriously do a good job.
"Edinburgh is a massive place and everywhere you go, everyone knows about Hearts and even Hibs. Both clubs have got massive potential, but especially Hearts. We have got a nice, compact stadium and if we are doing well we will fill it every week.
"To do that though, we need to have stability on and off the pitch, and if we can do that then I think we can definitely get back to the heights that we did a couple of seasons ago.
"Last season was a disappointing one for us. In spells we played quite well but most of the time I think that we underachieved.
"But hopefully over the period of the next week or so we will get a new manager and he can influence us with his style of play and get the team going in the right direction.
"The fact that we don't have a manager in place yet is a big factor because it means that you can't bring in any new players because they might not be who the new man wants or might not play the way that he wants.
"The sooner we get someone in, the better, as it can only help the club.
"All we want is a good pre-season and to be able to get round to playing the way that the new man wants and ensure that we start the new season on fire."
The young defender has a huge weight of responsibility on his shoulders as club captain to rally the troops on the field of play, but he feels that a greater obligation lies with Romanov and the board.
He added: "I know that I am captain and I know that I have to do my bit but a lot of it has to come from upstairs as well. If we can get a manager in and a coaching team, if that is what he decides, then they can run the team the way that they want it.
"That means we can start bringing new players in and if we get playing a certain way, start working for one another and pulling in the same direction, then we can get back up there.
"First and foremost – and everyone knows this – we really have to get a manager in place."
Berra admitted that he, along with the rest of the players at Tynecastle, were disappointed at the way Frail's position at the club has been handled, but insisted that they cannot afford to dwell on the situation.
Frail, a former Under-19s coach at the club, was thrust into the limelight when he was appointed as interim head coach and is a popular figure among both the first-team squad and youth players at Tynecastle.
Berra continued: "He had a difficult job and did as best he could – and he got some great results in the process.
"What happened was disappointing for everyone, but that's football though – these things happen. We can't dwell on that right now, we've got to get on with it.
"Hopefully when the new manager comes in he will want Stephen Frail as part of the set-up at Hearts for the future.
"We were all expecting to see Stevie when we went in for our first day back, but we know as players that you can be here one day and gone the next so we have just got to carry on. It's just the nature of the game."
Hearts kick-off their SPL campaign at the beginning of August with a home game against Motherwell – managed, of course, by former Jambos target McGhee – and Berra recognises the importance of getting a decent pre-season under their belts before then.
Last season's training schedule in both Austria and Germany was blighted by similar off-the-field issues and much of the blame for the club's poor performance in the league last season was put on their disrupted preparation.
Berra hopes that there won't be a repeat of that this time around. He said: "It was a fairly short break but I am glad to be back training and getting fit again.
"We did some tests last week and all of the boys did well.
"I have always been quite a fit person and I have kept myself that way over the break, and now I am just looking forward to getting back to playing again.
"The coaching staff who are here now – people like Tam Ritchie our fitness coach – know that it wasn't a very good pre-season because of certain circumstances, and I think everyone will go out of their way to make sure we have a good pre-season this time round.
"I'm sure they would have put their thoughts and ideas together weeks or even months ago, and I am sure that they will have it set up and ready to go. I think it will be a very hard pre-season to get us working hard and fit before the ball is introduced.
"By that time, the new manager should be in place and we can keep taking a step in the right direction. Hopefully pre-season will be 100 times better than it was this time last year."
The full article contains 1308 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
