LONG BEFORE Hearts made their approach on Friday, there had been a sense of the inevitable.
From the moment Mark McGhee started piecing together the kind of season which has seen Motherwell qualify for Europe for the first time in 13 years, there had been a sharpening twinge of dread in the minds of the Fir Park board and supporters. From t
he moment he was touted for the Scotland job by people in the know and ramped up to favourite for the position by the punters at the bookies, there was probably no escaping it.
Which is why the decision by the Motherwell hierarchy to refuse Hearts permission to speak with a man they have under contract for another season cannot be viewed as anything other than an attempt to gain a higher compensation package when he does finally go.
Speaking privately, they have acknowledged that their intransigence will not help them keep hold of a prize asset who is determined to improve his stock further. But, even in terms of their own fans, they cannot be seen to concede defeat too easily given the turnaround in fortune McGhee has precipitated since joining the club in June last year and his popularity with the Motherwell support.
When Scotland held talks with him he made it clear his loyalties lay with Motherwell until the end of the season. At a time when they needed him on and off the pitch, he gave them his commitment. But that time has come and gone and, without actually spelling it out, McGhee has made it clear he is open to bigger offers and fresh challenges. And while UEFA Cup football may excite the fans, the allure is diluted for an ambitious manager who is only too well aware of his squad's likely limitations at that level. Besides, for a guy with more rungs on the career ladder to climb, the most important thing is profile.
For all his successes down south, the fact they came further down the pecking order of football's elite deem them almost non-applicable up here when it comes to the top jobs. He has served his long apprenticeship with parochial clubs but now he needs to step it up. He is probably privy to more than most when it comes to the thoughts of his close friend Gordon Strachan so the fact he is considering the high-risk option offered up by Hearts suggests there will be no vacancy at Celtic Park this summer. That is one he is undoubtedly working towards for the future. In the meantime, Hibs, Aberdeen and Dundee United are not on the lookout for managerial staff, leaving only Hearts if he is looking at a club with greater potential than the one he is already at.
Following on from Motherwell's refusal to permit official talks with the capital side, he will quit this week and, if the Gorgie club's negotiators continue to make all the correct assurances, he will be unveiled as the latest in what has been a long list of coaches and caretaker bosses at Tynecastle since the days of George Burley. His assistant Scott Leitch is expected to follow.
It is seen by many as a high-risk strategy for a manager already well-regarded but it is undoubtedly a well-thought-out one and while the stakes are high, the rewards could be worth it. It was Burley's ability to assemble a squad, through his own contacts, and with Vladimir Romanov's apparent financial backing, which served to undermine the Old Firm's dominance and stoke the belief they could be vulnerable should anyone launch a concerted attack throughout a league campaign, which will entice McGhee. What better way to impress either the Celtic board or Premier League sides than finally upsetting the status quo in Scotland.
He is aware of the behind-the-scenes machinations at Hearts but the £350,000 contract makes it a worthwhile gamble. He has done his homework and knows that Romanov has been taking a slightly less autocratic interest in team matters. In statements pertaining to the search for a new manager, Hearts claimed they wanted someone who knew the British scene and someone who would have full responsibility for team selection and while the dictatorship is nowhere near becoming a democracy, enough has obviously been said to imbue McGhee with the belief that he can either be protected from interference or be forceful enough himself to withstand it.
For all the Hearts job has the capacity to age and even break managers, in many ways it is a win-win situation. At the moment, the only way is up for a club which finished in the bottom six in the SPL, while the hefty wages are written into the contract, so even if there are irreconcilable differences and the job fails to last, there will be personal recompense – even if, like Burley it takes a couple of years of fighting through the courts. If that happens, he is unlikely to shoulder the blame.
However, should he succeed where so many have failed, the boost to his reputation will be significant. It's a risk but a calculated one and for an ambitious manager such as McGhee, nothing whets the appetite quite as much as a challenge.
The full article contains 887 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
