HEARTS' caretaker boss has insisted there is no feud with Jose Goncalves, despite the fact the full-back was omitted from the squad for yesterday's match against Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
The Portuguese defender was disciplined by the club after he stormed out of Tynecastle in a huff on Wednesday night, apparently angered at being substituted and the overall team performance. Frail, while refusing to discuss the incident in detail, s
aid that he had spoken to his defender and informed him his behaviour was unacceptable.
However, he has dismissed any concerns that it could become a more permanent rift, after rumours began circulating yesterday that the 22-year-old had been sighted at the airport. "It's an internal matter and has been dealt with that way. It was something I wasn't going to accept after the game against Rangers on Wednesday and I have spoken to Jose and he accepts he was wrong and as far as were concerned that's the end of the matter.
"He might have gone back to Portugal, I don't know because he didn't travel with us and I know that somebody saw him at the airport but I don't know where he's away to or if he was just picking somebody up but he knows he has to be in for work on Monday morning and I fully expect him to be.
"He was disappointed when I spoke to him and told him he wasn't in the squad but he fully accepted the decision and took it on board and he wished me all the best and shook my hand as the rest of us left to come up to Inverness."
It is the first public flexing of Frail's muscle after he imposed a tough code of conduct on the players when taking the reins two months ago. He said he had sought assurance from owner Vladimir Romanov that he would have final say on all football matters and said he wanted to implement stricter rules and be able to follow through in enforcing them without interference.
The mood will have been brightened by the emphatic victory at Caledonian Stadium yesterday. Not only did the side produce a much-improved performance from the below-par fare served up midweek, they also kept a clean sheet and netted three times to assuage fears they lack any potency without top goalscorer Andrius Velicka. Christos Karipidis opened the scoring from a set piece but it was the goals from Calum Elliot which did most to cheer the travelling support. Much maligned in recent times as hard-working but perhaps not Hearts quality, he produced two fine finishes and worked well throughout the match to suggest that there may be a decent partnership forming between himself and Christian Nade.
The 20-year-old admitted afterwards that the goals had been timely, with everyone watching to see who could fill Velicka's boots, and said that the best may be about to come. "It's a great opportunity for me and the rest of the boys. Obviously (Velicka] was a regular when he was here but now I've got to take my opportunities when I get them and try to stay in the team.
"The supporters are always entitled to their criticism but it's up to the player to get the performances for them. Maybe I've not scored as many goals I would have wanted to but I got two today so and I'm hoping that's the start of many more."
Frail was delighted to see him get the goals and said that he can now add to that. "It's always the same with young lads when they come in, do well and then their form takes a dip, but today he showed what a good player he is."
Having given some of his personal detractors cause to pause for thought, Elliot said he was pleased the team as a whole had responded to the barracking in the wake of Wednesday's display. "Everbody was gutted with our performance on Wednesday, but I think a lot of people went overboard, claiming it was a crisis when all it was one bad performance. It was important we came here and showed that. We have won five out of seven games, or something like that, and hopefully we can keep climbing up the table."
The victory took them one point behind sixth-placed Falkirk in the chase for a place in the upper echelons when the league splits next month.
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