George Burley Quotations

We are proud to have four players who played a major part in Wednesday's success.

When I was manager at Ipswich and Derby, if we took 3500 to away matches that was good. To take over 6000 is unbelievable. The fans appreciate the effort the players are putting in.

We have plenty of back-up on the left-hand side so we have let Joe speak to Leicester.

The fact he is one of the top keepers in Britain at the age of 22 speaks volumes for him as keepers don't normally reach their prime until they are about 26 or 27 years old.

Sir Clive has been a world class coach in a different sport...but at the end of the day I think with any football club it's a team.

Mr Romanov is aware of the players who I want to sign and we are working away on that at the moment. The wheels have been set in motion and I'll be trying my best to get one or two before the window closes.

Peter worked hard. He's taken his time to find his feet in this division. Coming from abroad, it's never easy but he worked hard for his goal.

ongoing issue which has proved impossible to resolve.

I don't know what will happen tomorrow. I might not be here myself, who knows? I won't guarantee anything, but as far as I'm aware nothing has changed. We're planning ahead with Theo at the club. He's done very well for us and we want to keep him for as long as possible. He's a fantastic talent. When you've got a talent like that there is always going to be speculation but the kid handles it well - he's experienced it for the past six months.

I am certainly not disappointed to still be at Tynecastle. I love it here and never said I wanted to leave. I'm not the kind of person who will sulk about this. I've had the best times of my career at Hearts and hopefully there are more to come.

I had loads of others on a list and it was disappointing not to bring anyone else in as I know for a fact that they would have strengthened our squad immensely.

I feel for the boy but the club has to come first,

I get on very well with Mr Romanov and we have a workable relationship. We're both coming from the same place - and that's to make Hearts successful. The only difference compared to what I'm used to is in transfer dealings. I can live with that. My everyday routine running this club is absolutely fine. I'm really enjoying it as far as training matters, picking the team and changing things on and off the field. I've been given a free role and feel we've come a long way over the past couple of months on and off the field.

He trained yesterday for the first time this week so hopefully he'll be okay.

He is a young player so there is a lot of scope for improvement. He is not the finished article, so we had to look carefully at him. He will be a good asset to the squad, and he has good credentials.

He'll undergo keyhole surgery and after that it is a question of him recovering and getting himself back into training. It looks like it will be four to six weeks out for the boy, but to be honest we are only guessing. We'll take it as it comes.

He should be able to start training next week all going well which is good news as initially we thought it could have been a cracked rib because he was passing blood and was in a lot of pain. That's why the hospital kept him in overnight, but all going well he will now come into contention for the Celtic match.

He's getting sharper and fitter so it's been a good for thing for him to be able to do more training before our next game against Celtic.

Joe knows Craig Levein well and, if the talks work out, it will be a good opportunity for the lad.

It can have a snowball effect. With the national side doing well there is more interest in the game, which is great.

I scored in the final against Porto and I made a joke to him that we are now in the same team. Now we both want him to score.

Others will get the chance to show what they can do. We want to win and progress but we are down to the bare bones of the squad with these injuries.

Others will get the chance to show what they can do,

I was very keen for Dennis to stay but he came in on Saturday morning and said he didn't think it was right to stay on and I wished him all the best. Dennis was disappointed, which is understandable, but he can still do a good job on the football field. At the end of the day he has got to be mentally right and he told me he wasn't and you have to respect his decision. He's been a great professional.

I thought I did very well for the club,

I thought in the first half we were excellent. We got one goal and could have got a number more. Hibs were on top for a spell at the start of the second half, but after our second goal there was only going to be one winner.

Julien was released from hospital yesterday and the good news is that all the tests came back clear,

Julien is still having some tests done but he's going home for the weekend and will hopefully start training with us on Tuesday.

Just because I think finishing third would be a good season does not mean we don't want to finish first

I'm hoping to look at a specific player but other than that I don't really want to say anymore at the moment.

Michel needs more training. It will be like a mini pre-season for him,

Michal will hopefully start some light training this week but Saturday will probably be too early.

Michal has been doing a lot of extra work with the fitness coach and is currently basically doing a mini pre-season,

We can only sign him on loan now but we have agreed to sign him in the summer.

We have spoken to Paul and his agent and are getting closer. He's a smashing player and a great character in the dressing room too. He simply enjoys his football.

We have a very good relationship. But I pick the team and that will never change, no matter what players come to the club.

The Polish guy was a lad I really wanted to bring to the club because he has smashing ability but unfortunately we've been unable to prise him away. He is a top-class player. One of the best in Poland.

We are keen to keep improving the quality. Nobody is guaranteed an automatic spot in the team.

We'll see how he goes - he'll be in the squad,

We should not just be happy to stay in this division. Now we must push on, we have to do better next season.

When the fourth official put two minutes up I just thought blow your whistle because you could feel that as soon as we conceded the first goal we were jittery and worried.

We will be working right up until midnight to try and sign the players we want, no doubt about that.

There have been a lot of changes and there were a lot of players I felt it was time to move on. There was a lot of discontent in the squad when I arrived and we had to start afresh. We need to work hard and stick together. When I came here I felt there was an unhealthy size of squad, if you get maybe a dozen players not playing games it's too many.

The reason Jankauskas came off on Sunday was because he was feeling his hamstring,

There is not a problem between me and Mr Romanov. He just works in a different way to what I have been used to,

This was too good an opportunity to turn down once I found out he was available as he has played at the highest levels and has an immaculate CV.

We missed out on certain players during the last transfer window, which was disappointing,

We do not have too many options left and we certainly won't be taking any risks with the Rangers match so close.

We don't think there is any ligament damage but there it's a setback for the lad.

We are trying to strengthen the squad as much as possible. There are a number we are still looking at for January and we will have to wait and see how things develop but I am hoping to improve things as we still have a wee bit to go.

Every point is important. It's very difficult to say but I think you've got to look at 50 points to be totally safe.

The response from the public has been fantastic.

I've spoken to the chairman (Rupert Lowe) about it and Theo is going nowhere.

The situation is a major concern for us. We face a very difficult game without one of our main players and we don't have a lot of options in that area. Roman's operation was successful but the hard work starts for him now.

Roman took a kick on his foot and won't make tomorrow night and we will have to wait and see how the others are later in the week,

Saul did well in the first couple of matches of the season but he knows there is competition for places now,

A fee was agreed when Rudi joined, but any long-term transfer has got to be right for both parties. I've already said to Mr Romanov that I'd like to keep Rudi, but it's early days yet.

This milestone will be a tremendous achievement for the lad,

As with any new signings, they have got to earn the right to get into the team,

As with any foreign player, we'll see how quickly he adapts to the British style of game. First impressions are always a key thing for me and he seems very enthusiastic and is a boy who wants to do very well over here.

It's a smashing club and the response I've got from people has been very positive. Clive is a world class coach in a different sport. He's looked at different sports but any football club is a team working together, not an individual. Being able to work with Clive can only help me and Southampton.

It's always good to get a win in a derby. I said we were short of fitness but we knew there were goals in the team.

It's possibly my fault as United maybe took it for granted we were going to let him go. But the decision has to come from the board and I have no qualms in them wanting to keep hold of Neil and I'm happy to have him here.

Takis took a painful blow to his knee while Julien got a kick on his calf and it is too early to say just now whether they will be okay for Rangers.

They will be in the squad. We will look at things nearer the time but the team has done very well and I've been very pleased with them.

The midfielders scoring goals certainly helps but it's not about one person here it's about the team as a unit and how we work together.

The interest is great, not just in Scotland but all over Europe they are talking about the way Hearts have started.

I left the club in as good a position as it ever has been in,

I hope to be here for a long time. I've got a contract for two and a half years. We are building something.

I'm seeing him after the game and we'll have a little chat about players. I feel my squad's not strong enough but at the moment we've not got anything definite in the pipeline. It's very tight but we'll see how it goes.

I'm hoping Paul stays fit, otherwise we may have to use Dexter again.

I'm at my best on the training ground and my role at Southampton will allow me to concentrate on that. Clive and I have had detailed discussions on how we will work together and I'm excited at the prospect.

If you look at the Old Firm squads now, there's no comparison, ... I don't feel we're anything like as strong as them. We're still short of feeling we can compete with them but that remains our target. In saying that, if we can bring in a few more players, who knows?

I'll take in a game abroad at the weekend,

I honestly believe that we can build a squad in the summer that can push up into the top six and challenge for promotion. We've got funds available for next season.

In the second-half we created the best chances and took the game to Newcastle.

He's worked hard, and hasn't had any adverse effect on his hamstring, so he's getting there. Ideally you'd want him to play one or two reserve games first ...

Hearts have just 16 players to play this cup tie against Livingston,

Alexander is a current Swedish international who is looking to go to the World Cup finals.

The chairman spoke to me and he is very much 'Theo is not going anywhere' and his dad is keen for the boy to develop.

THE day I don't pick the team is the day I won't be here.