Hearts 2, Gretna under-21s 0
By: Graham |
Add Comments
A third victory in a row for Hearts came at the end of a week of rumours about the team being up for sale and, believe it or not, suggestions that Vladimir Romanov interfered in team selection. Beating Gretna at all is a rarity for Hearts and scoring two goals against them rarer still. However, this is a Gretna side that has already accepted the inevitability of relegation and their team was packed with teenagers as they look to build again for the future. The score should have been closer to 6-0 but for some wild misses. Andrius Velicka scored two but still looks like a man finding it hard to distinguish between the goal and the stands. Our Lithuanian winger twins also managed to look alike as they missed sitters, too.
The next three games will tell, of course, whether the corner - or any corner, in fact - has really been turned. Away to Celtic and Motherwell, followed by a mid-week Tynecastle tie with Rangers. Win those three and I would predict a third place finish that looked impossible just a month ago. We’ve been helped by the dip in form of the teams above us and the continued dominance of the Old Firm but it puts Europe back in the frame. But before I get carried away, it’s worth remembering that we’ve already had a few false dawns at Tynecastle this season and that a further three wins on the spin - especially against the opponents in question - is not likely.
If we don’t improve the ratio of goals scored to chances made, we’ll have little chance of winning consistently against opposition from the higher end of the table. Our last three victories have been against: a side already all but relegated; and Hibs and Aberdeen, whose form is in free fall. I don’t imagine Celtic, Rangers, and Motherwell are quaking at the thought of facing us in the coming weeks. But if you’re a Hearts fan, unpredictability is just part of the package.
Category: Hearts
No new players; no new manager; no game today for Hearts
By: Graham | Add Comments
By doing little more than turning up at Fir Park for the Cup replay with Motherwell, Hearts have cunningly ensured themselves a rest during a period of awful weather. You’ve got to hand it to Stevie Frail for thinking outside the box.
It also gives Frail the chance to take a leisurely look at his new signings on the training pitch before deciding which to put into the team for the next game - home against Gretna next Saturday. That shouldn’t take long, of course. Yes, while other teams saw a flurry of last minute activity, Hearts brought in big-name signing Fernando Screpis. Where from? Kaunas, of course. But wait, he was there on loan. From Hearts, for whom he signed pre-season. So, in fact, Hearts signed no new players at all for the first team in January.
There have been rumours that Screpis is only finally in Edinburgh after threatening some sort of legal action to force Hearts to fulfil the terms of the contract he originally signed in October last year. Not the most auspicious of starts to his Tynecastle career. We need a midfielder, certainly, so why the delay in bringing him in?
There was another midfielder available recently in the SPL. Barry Robson has moved to Celtic from Dundee United, once again underlining the resources at the disposal of the Old Firm. Dundee United are third in the SPL, Celtic second, but Celtic have the cash to extract any players of serious talent from the ‘lesser’ teams around them. But what is the point of having a multi-millionaire owner if Hearts cannot compete for the signatures of a player like Robson? Of course, Robson would not see a shift down the coast to Tynecastle as a sensible career move. And who could blame him? But the Romanovs promised to make Hearts a top club. Where are the signs of that ambition, other than in the plans for commercial redevelopment of the land?
And the new manager that Vlad the Impatient is reported to have said was his main priority? Exactly.
That’s the trouble with Saturdays when Hearts don’t have a game. It lets the mind wander.
Category: HeartsHearts hand it to Rangers at muddy Hampden
By: Graham | Add Comments
I’m off to Murrayfield on Sunday to see Scotland play France in this season’s Six Nation campaign opener. It may be rugby but it’s unlikely that I’ll see any more blatant use of the hands than last night’s ‘catch’ by Barry Ferguson. He finished it well - on the turn - but he could as easily carried it into the net and claimed a try.
Coupled with some shoddy decisions in and around the Rangers penalty box in the first half, Hearts fans would have been justified in wondering why referee Mike McCurry was not actually wearing a blue top. However, McCurry actually had an all-round mare and missed a couple of fair shouts against Goncalves for handling in the area. So, no bias, just poor judgement.
Nade put in another honest performance but the Velicka miss quotient is assuming worrying proportions. It was windy and the pitch was bad enough to make the new Wembley surface look good for football but Andrius should still have volleyed us level in the second half and probably put us ahead in the first.
I hate to admit it but Rangers probably deserved the win. Their fans seemed largely indifferent - in contrast to a vocal and spirited Hearts contingent - but in the second half their players seemed to want it more. Two league wins on the spin doesn’t really start to paper the cracks. In the end we looked a solid middle of the table team playing a better team that won without getting out of second gear.
No doubt there will be a host of exciting new signings announced today to bring the transfer window to a rousing close. Pretty please?
Category: HeartsAberdeen 0 - 1 Hearts
By: Graham | Add Comments
It’s starting to look like Hearts are becoming a bogey team for the men from Pittodrie. After trouncing them 4-1 at Tynecastle in November, we took another three points off them yesterday. The last team to mug them on their home patch in the league was Celtic. Of course, it may be worth reminding ourselves that, after we last beat Aberdeen, we set of on a run of ten games without a win.
It’s hard to see that happening again. This was a gritty performance. True, the Dons looked out of sorts and really didn’t manage any threatening football until the last fifteen minutes. But Hearts looked like a team. Christian Nade was not only sharp enough to latch on to the defensive mistake that gave us the win, but also had enough stamina left to sprint to the touchline when he was substituted. On a more worrying note, Velicka appears to have picked up some viral infection that is badly affecting his aim as a striker. The first symptoms appeared in the Motherwell game on Tuesday: the disease seems to have hit full stride. Not what we needed just as we’re beginning to find a bit of team spirit and self-belief.
Then again, there’s always Beniusis. For many, the sight of the big man coming on for Velicka with fifteen minutes to go (which turned into twenty when another five were added on at the end), was like a slap in the face. It was like a declaration that we wanted things a little tougher. This was just as Aberdeen were starting to apply more pressure than an oil rig’s drill bit. The last quarter of an hour had the intensity of a cup game - the intensity that was so sadly lacking at Fir Park - and Hearts held on through a couple of great saves from Banks and some stalwart defending and clever midfield play. And listen to this: Beniusis was splendid. He held the ball well, he turned and ran at tired Aberdeen defenders and he spread the play. He even got cheered by the Hearts fans.
So, is this another step forward? Two SPL wins in a row does not a campaign make. We’ve got that semi against Rangers mid-week and then Gretna at home. Two wins there and things might start to look a little rosier.
A quick word about Steve Banks. Hearts fans have known, since he first stood in for Craig Gordon during the latter’s injuries and suspensions, that he is a good keeper. The new keepers Hearts have brought in may also develop into good keepers but this is not the time to experiment and to change things around. After Gordon, Banks. It has a certain ring to it.
Category: HeartsAnother step backwards for Hearts in defeat to Motherwell
By: Graham | 1 Comment
It turned out as expected. The passion from the first encounter at Tynecastle was missing and it was hard to believe that a home tie against Dundee was the reward for a victory here. Although a glaring miss by Andrius Velicka and a soft penalty award for Motherwell were the action points that defined the game, Hearts lost the match in a first half that oozed ineptitude. They were a team that simply looked as though Fir Park was not where they wanted to be. Here lies the root of the problem at the moment: we rarely field eleven men who can get fired up at the same time for the same match. Is this a failure of leadership in the dressing room or on the pitch?
Cesnauskis, after showing glimpses of something or other in the last home games, suddenly reminded us that we hadn’t missed him too much. Driver was simply absent. Why? Who knows? Perhaps we thought a bit of speed on the flank would only play into Motherwell’s hands.
To be fair, things improved in the second half and we certainly finished the stronger side. Had Velicka netted a golden chance, I would have fancied us to go on and win. Not to be. Bring on Rangers in our last chance for silverware.
Category: HeartsAre Hearts really favourites to win at ‘Well?
By: Graham | 3 Comments
One win in their last five against unbeaten in three games. Those are the sort of numbers that would make the latter team appear to be favourites for tonight’s Cup replay at Fir Park between Motherwell and Hearts. But that would make Hearts favourites and that just won’t do at all. Expecting Hearts to win a match against any SPL opponent at the moment is a bit like expecting them to keep a clean sheet: it happens but it’s usually a surprise when it does.
Both teams go into the match with management issues: Motherwell expecting to lose one; Hearts hoping to find one. It has not been a good couple of months for ‘Well but if they had to choose a team against which they could start to make a recovery in both footballing and off-pitch terms, they could probably do a lot worse than Hearts. They made a solid start in the first game when they came back from two goals down. I suspect a lot of Hearts players - and some fans - think that the victory over a sorry Hibs on Saturday marked some sort of turning point. A cold night on a heavy pitch in front of a hostile crowd may turn complacency into indifference. I’m sorry, but some of these guys still need to prove the shirt means something to them.
So, I’m expecting a Motherwell win. And hoping to be completely wrong. A hat trick for Velicka would be nice.
Category: HeartsHearts finally in transfer market action
By: Graham | Add Comments
The bad news, however, is that we’re selling, not buying. Michal Pospisil - seen here exaggerating the length of his contract - 
has left Hearts and joined big name Belgian side Sint-Truidense. I get the sense that Michal, after joining from Slovan Liberec, felt there were just not enough letters in the Hearts name. Obviously nobody took him to one side and explained that Hearts is the ’short’ name of the club. Just another example of poor player-management communication, perhaps.
Good luck, Michal. Thank you for your 14 goals and for your well-greased and pointy hair style.
Category: HeartsHearts triumph in passionless derby
By: Graham | Add Comments
The manner of Andrius Velicka’s solitary but winning goal for Hearts in yesterday’s derby victory over Hibs was indicative of the game as a whole. This was not a classic. More than that, it was a derby match curiously lacking in passion, fire, agression, or even any downright niggle. Even the crowd seemed to fade after the kick-off.
Hearts certainly started the stronger and brought Driver and Cesnauskis into the game to good effect early on. The five across midfield stifled any attempts by Hibs to play football. Velicka’s goal, when it came, was hardly a surprise. Corner to the back post; Berra headed the ball back across goal; Velicka was there to nod it goalwards. It lacked real pace but it was from only a yard out and straight at the keeper, who, being a Hibs keeper at Tynecastle, juggled it over the line. It bounced once before being hooked clear by a defender but it was clearly over the line and the official made a correct decision with no help from technology. The Hibs players closest to the incident made no complaints; not even to Ma-Calamity.
The goal scored, Hearts contributed to a scrappy and drab remaining 25 minutes of the first half by sitting back. This allowed Hibs more room to play but they looked short on ideas and unlikely to trouble Banks. And so it proved, more or less for the whole match.
The only excitement in the second period was Michael Stewart’s on-field vomit. He started spraying passes in much the same way shortly after and was substituted. He didn’t get a lot of hugs as he came off.
A victory at last, then. It was solid, it was over Hibs, and we kept a clean sheet. But there was a fire lacking somewhere and it made the win feel less like a win, really. Strange. But we’re up to third from bottom and only one point behins St. Mirren. Hold me back.
Category: HeartsTynecastle set for new name
By: Graham | 2 Comments
Hearts yesterday delivered the planning permission application for the new 10,000 seater stand needed to hold visiting Rangers and Celtic fans increasing numbers of season ticket holders. So Hearts fans can now look forward to:
- a big name manager
- big name signings
- a big name new stadium
What do I mean by that last point? Well, here is what Pedro Lopez is reported saying on the Hearts web site today.
Hearts deputy chief executive Pedro Lopez has intimated that Tynecastle Stadium could be renamed in the future - but only if the successful sponsor is prepared to invest heavily in the club.
Now, I’m not sure but I have a feeling that Hearts already have a major sponsor and that, given that sponsor’s connection with the current Hearts owner, that sponsorship is likely to continue. I also find it hard to imagine the current owner willing to let another company overshadow his own when it comes to naming his club’s stadium.
So, let’s make some noise at Ukio Bankas Stadium.
Mmm.
Category: HeartsBednar scores again - but not for Hearts
By: Graham | Add Comments
I remember a neighbour of mine - a Celtic fan, no less - expressing admiration for the skills of Roman Bednar. This was shortly before Bednar slotted home a winner in a victory over Celtic at Tynecastle. There is no doubt that Bednar is a cultured striker and, had he suffered less injury problems (a recurring theme for Hearts strikers, it seems) he would have had an even greater impact. He appears to be back to peak fitness. A level of fitness, indeed, that has seen him score 9 goals in his last 11 appearances.
Unfortunately, those 9 goals and 11 appearances have not been for Hearts but for West Brom. I would ask ‘why?’ but remarks attributed to Bednar regarding the Hearts owner recently would seem to answer the question. Bednar was an asset as a player but possibly didn’t follow the rules of unquestioning subservience that appear to be necessary to remain part of the starting eleven.
Category: Hearts
Home 
