Forget It Vlad, Stevie Was No Frail-Ure

Jul 13 2008 Andy Walker

I WISH Hearts owner Vladimir Romanov would do us all a favour and just appoint himself as the manager at Tynecastle.

He's clearly up for the challenge.

Seven months after kicking off his search Vlad has finally made Csaba Laszlo the new Jambos gaffer and shown interim coach Stevie Frail the door.

Yet going by Vlad's past form Laszlo shouldn't get too comfy in the hotseat.

Frail was deemed to be a member of the Largs Mafia who can only do so much as part of the "local structure."

Romanov's derision of Stevie highlights the Lithuanian banker's total lack of class and is no reflection at all on Frail.

Through all the chaos at the club Frail did an impossible job with great dignity.

He probably doesn't think so at the moment but the experience he has gained over the last year or so will serve him well.

Frail can hold his head high at the way he came across when everyone was taking a pot-shot at Hearts.

Being put up as the voice of reason amid so much madness will be crucial in his development as a manager.

Frail can be happy with his input. Hearts were near the bottom of the table around New Year but under his guidance results improved.

A crass remark from someone with the size of ego Romanov possesses won't hamper Frail's job prospects.

Whether he gets it through the "Largs Mafia" is neither here nor there but Vlad is not the only man who believes there's a coaching Mafia in Scotland who can determine if you get you a job or not.

It's the same in every walk of life, is it not? But in the end, no matter how you get the job it's results that count.

Losing games and failing to meet reasonable expectations will always get you the sack.

But Romanov's latest rant proves he does not know his history when it comes to Scottish managers.

Alex Ferguson is peerless while Jock Stein, Walter Smith and Jim McLean achieved astonishing success.

They were the original Largs Mafia and an apprenticeship there served them well.

In recent years Alex McLeish, George Burley, Davie Moyes, Mark McGhee, Gordon Strachan, Ally McCoist and Roy Aitken have made their way to the Ayrshire coast to learn.

I passed my coaching badges under the guidance of former St Mirren and Aberdeen boss Alex Smith in the late 90s.

I thought Alex was dour but nothing could've been further from the truth. His enthusiasm was infectious and it was amazing to find out from him things that happened in my career I knew nothing about.

Alex told me he knew he was for the bullet at Aberdeen when he tried to sign me from Celtic for £150,000.

In every proposal he had put to the suits since taking over as manager they were all ears and embraced every idea he had to improve the team.

Their lack of interest sent a clear message - he knew his time was up.

I never employed an agent and given there were so few around I knew nothing of Aberdeen's interest until Alex mentioned it seven years later.

I loved Alex's coaching sessions. Once he put on a crossing and finishing exercise for strikers and everything was done at a high tempo.

Eventually he put forward the idea to the whole group that twin strikers had to speak to each other all the time to be successful and his words weren't sitting right with me.

I pulled him up at the end of the session as my experience was entirely different.

The most successful and enjoyable periods of my career came when I partnered Frank McAvennie at Celtic and John McGinlay at Bolton.

I hardly said a word to either on the pitch. If Macca moved right I went left, if he dropped short I went long. With McGinlay it was the same.

Alex and I had a chat and he accepted different partnerships could hit it off naturally. There's no coaching manual to explain how that happens.

On the whole, I found the SFA course good and bad.

Much of it is repetitive and boring but the experience of addressing a group of players and telling them how you want them to play is invaluable.

Discussing teams, tactics and individuals with others of the same mind is also beneficial.

And years after I attended the course, guest foreign speakers were invited to open everyone's eyes to new things.

I've heard the criticism of the Largs Mafia being in control of what goes on in Scotland and that without a visit there you'd never secure a job in the SPL.

That may have been valid when top gaffers carried a lot of weight in boardrooms but when the coaching certificates became compulsory ability was the only quality needed.

Although Laszlo is now in charge at Tynecastle, Romanov will make sure he's still the boss and the centre of attention.