STEPHEN Frail's future at Hearts is in serious doubt today after the caretaker manager was absent as the squad reported back for duty yesterday ahead of the new season.
It is understood that Frail turned up for duty but was told to go home by Anatoli Korobochka, the club' sporting director.
The reasons for Frail being sent away are not clear, but it was becoming increasingly obvious that he would not be upgraded
from caretaker to full-time manager by club owner Vladimir Romanov. The position has already been offered to Motherwell manager Mark McGhee, who rejected Romanov's advances and left the Lithuania-based businessman without the appointment he expected to make before the new season started.
It is understood that Frail has not to return to Tynecastle or the club's Riccarton training base until he is informed of Romanov's intentions next week at the earliest.
Frail was conspicuous by his absence when Hearts players arrived back at the club yesterday for medical testing. A raft of photographs on the club's website featured Korobochka and everyone from the youth academy director to the kitman – but no Frail.
The caretaker manager had been expected to take pre-season training at Riccarton in the absence of a new manager, but it now seems inevitable that Korobochka will put the players through their paces.
The full article contains 232 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.