It's my way or the highway, Jim Jefferies tells Jose Goncalves

JIM Jefferies has confirmed that Jose Goncalves' first-team exile will continue unless he decides to accept what the manager described as a "fantastic offer" to extend his stay at Hearts.

The defender has been sidelined since Jefferies' return to Tynecastle 12 days ago and will sit out again at Celtic tonight, when a full card of Scottish Premier League fixtures are scheduled.

Goncalves, whose present contract expires this summer, has given the manager no signal of any desire to remain with the club. But Jefferies has left his door open should the player wish to change his mind about leaving, with Goncalves aware that his chances of being named in Portugal's squad for this summer's World Cup hinge on him playing regular football.

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Jefferies railed against the perception that he is doing club owner Vladimir Romanov's bidding. Predecessor Csaba Laszlo continued to pick Goncalves despite the stasis with regard to his contract situation. But he was sacked on the eve of Hearts' last league match against St Johnstone and Jefferies has inherited the problem of what to do with the defender, who had attracted interest from Celtic late last year.

His solution has been to exclude Goncalves. This course of action mirrors Jefferies' treatment of Paul Ritchie during his first spell as manager at Tynecastle. The defender was among the first players to take advantage of the then new ruling about freedom of contract and, following interest from Rangers, refused to extend his deal at Tynecastle. Jefferies interpreted this as evidence that he did not want to play for Hearts, and refused to pick him. Ritchie ended up at Ibrox via a spell with Bolton Wanderers.

But Jefferies is even more perplexed and frustrated by Goncalves' stance. The player has been made what he described as an "unbelievable" offer to remain with Hearts. Jefferies revealed that even Darren Jackson, one of Goncalves' advisors in Scotland, could not believe he had turned the deal down.

"I've tried to talk to Jose on a number of occasions," said Jefferies. "I've been in the game a long time and I know the offer he has been made is unbelievable. I saw some paper reports saying he has been offered less (than his present deal], but that's absolutely nonsense. He has been made one fantastic offer to stay at this club, I can tell you that. For him to turn that down, it tells you he does not want to be here. Am I better to play a player that wants to play for the club or someone that does not want to be here?"

Jefferies left this rhetorical question to linger, but engaged with another one when it was asked, as it had to be. Why are Michael Stewart and Christian Nade being permitted to play on when they, too, are out of contract in the summer.

Jefferies' reply was short and to the point: contrary to speculation, they have not yet been offered new deals. He has still to make up his mind on them.

"Other boys are out of contract but I've not made a decision about them," he said. "That's the only reason they are out of contract. I will use this time from now until the end of the season to decide whether I want them. That's a totally different scenario. I've seen Jose play and he is a good, young player.

"I've had four meetings in two days and in those four meetings I'm sitting talking to Jose, looking at him, listening to him and getting the vibes that for some reason before I came here he refused a contract. It's not because of the terms because the terms are fantastic. If he does not want to do that, it tells you he does not want to play."

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Jefferies insisted that the player could end the stand-off by accepting the deal on offer. He added there were no hard feelings between them. "If he walked in the door and says he wants to sign, he would be in my plans tomorrow," said Jefferies. "Even the agent (Jackson] can't believe he has turned down the deal, at least the one I've dealt with as I don't know how many agents he has got."

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