David Obua: Fit for purpose

So I was sitting here reading back on some of the earlier entries and as is the way with blogs (and football), I found that time has changed my opinions on many of the things I've written previously. With most issues, it's simply a case of hindsight but when it comes to David Obua it's more than just revising and updating opinion. Only 2 months ago, I saw fit to give him a whole blog entry of criticisms - many of which were justified - and things being as they are now, it's only fair that I redress that balance and spend some time lavishing praise on my current favourite player.

Davie O, I'm happy to say that I was wrong about you. Getting the less pleasant bits out of the way first, your petulance and spitting antics were downright cruddy and unnecessary but I like to think that your attitude towards us as fans has changed in much the same way that our attitude has changed towards you. Hearts fans can be critical and demanding, but we reserve the right to pass comment because we're the people who love this club and we'll be around long after you're gone. You didn't warm to us and we weren't keen on you either - we thought you were short on ability and commitment, and laden down with bad attitude.

But then we played Hibs.

You turned up, you put in a shift and for the first time we really saw a player who could contribute something to the team. Perhaps it helped that we weren't at Tynecastle and even moreso that we were at the home of our rivals, the supporters are more forgiving when outnumbered and I have no doubt that this might have lifted a little of the pressure. But you played well and one of my favourite memories of that game was the sight of you standing there on the pitch at the end, open-mouthed and slightly in awe, just watching the Hearts end celebrating and grinning as we applauded. You were the last to leave the pitch. Don't correct me on my indulgent and romantic notion if I'm wrong, but I like to think that this was the moment that you really started to 'get' Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

Since then, you've come on leaps and bounds to the point where there aren't many Hearts supporters I know who wouldn't have you as one of the first names on their team sheet. Csaba said you would come good and you did. There's good technique, neat passes, you'll take on and beat your man, nice crosses, great aerial ability - you've even started putting in tackles! And goals too, of course.

It's all good David, let's see some more. Welcome to Heart of Midlothian Football Club.

Teenage munchkins & mediocrity

When Hibs fans blethered on about the youthfulness of their squad we tittered in amusement, and we were quite right to do so as for a while, claims of inexperience were their favourite way to excuse mediocrity. But in the aftermath of this weekend's debacle against St Mirren, I've heard plenty of Jambos using much the same reasoning in their defence of what was quite simply a rubbish performance from the boys in maroon. Furthermore, we've also heard Csaba Laszlo complaining about the height of the team that took to the field on Saturday, players so afflicted by vertical challenges that they're probably now down on record as the shortest team fielded by Hearts in the last 5 years.

But does any of this stuff really matter? I'm not convinced. Yes, we have a relatively youthful squad but in those ranks we have a number of younger players who are almost seasoned first teamers these days: Andy Driver, Lee Wallace, Eggert Jonsson. If youth and inexperience are such huge obstacles, then why was Gary Glen probably one of our best players on the day? As for the height issue, would being a few inches taller really have ensured that our players remembered to mark their opposition? It wasn't height advantage that gave Dorman all the room in the world to stick in that equaliser, and I certainly don't remember our defenders being overwhelmed by aerial challenges. In fact, I don't remember our defenders being overwhelmed by St Mirren at all.

I could go into the players-out-of-position argument and while I'm happy to acknowledge that this might have an effect, I don't believe that it had any real impact upon the game this weekend. St Mirren were livelier than we might have expected following their mid-week Cup rumble with Motherwell on Thursday, but they didn't ever really test us. Indeed, we were hardly unleashing wave after wave of attack either but the difference was that I don't remember us ever really looking like we weren't in control of the game - we just didn't have that final ball. It was sloppy, unlucky and frustrating stuff to watch though. It was mediocrity in motion.

It's little consolation to hear that both Aberdeen and Dundee United failed to bring home three points, and even less so when you consider that our two nearest competitors for the coveted 3rd spot were playing each other. Make no bones about it, this was an opportunity lost and there's no amount of excuse mongering that can disguise the fact that this weekend might prove to be memorable for all the wrong reasons. I'm tired of pulling out that old cliche, the one about how being a Hearts supporter is bad for the blood pressure because they never do things the easy way. I'm even more tired of hearing it being used when lady luck had absolutely nothing to do with the problems we're facing. We could have given ourselves a cushion but we failed, it's that simple. There are no excuses, and I hope the players realise that too.