Brown trout

The title of this blog entry may not get us many hits for Hearts related content, but I really couldn't think of anything more appropriate following the events of the weekend. So yes, we went to Easter Road and we won. How tremendous was that? The atmosphere in the Hearts end was just brilliant and having now watched the highlights again on the telly (about 4 zillion times), it was great to hear the Jambos outsinging the Hibbies yet again.

It's easy to be magnanimous when you've just beaten your local rivals in a cup match, and being entirely honest about it I'd have to agree that Fletcher's red card probably was a tad on the unfortunate side, but I have little sympathy for them as a group of supporters at the moment. Yes, they're having a tough time and it's clear to anyone that Mixu just isn't up to the job, but the empty seats at Easter Road on Sunday belied an attitude which deserves nothing other than criticism. They had their team beaten before a ball had even been kicked. How can their team go out on to that pitch with anything approximating self-belief when the fans can't muster up enough faith to get themselves to the game in the first place?

I'd feel sorry for them if it wasn't so wickedly satisfying to take delight in their misfortune. Again. So, it's 108 in a row. They haven't won the big cup since 1902 you know....

But on to Mixu Paatelainen. If he was anyone other than the manager of Hibernian I might actually feel slightly sorry for him. Or at least, I would have done until he saw fit to publicly snipe at our captain. There's no doubt that with the benefit of numerous replays, it's possible to see why the red card might have been considered a harsh call, but similarly, any sensible human being with basic football knowledge can understand why it was given in the first place. For all that Fletcher isn't known as a dirty player, Christophe Berra certainly isn't known for his cheatery either and what Mixu fails to understand is that the chain of events was caused by stupidity on Fletcher's part and not anything more sinister than that. If he wants to take a gamble like that during an important derby, then the consequences of his actions rest with Steven Fletcher and nobody else. A tackle doesn't have to break a leg before it can be considered reckless, and muttering viciously about Berra because he had the audacity to take evasive action won't change the fact that Fletcher screwed up. It's that simple.

The Scotsman reported this morning that Hibs are considering an appeal and forgive me for being a cynic, but I'm not convinced by this move and I seriously doubt whether any of the Hibs fans will be either. Mixu may well be the only man on the planet (other than Pat Nevin) who thinks that they have any grounds for such an appeal and considering that the ref has already reviewed his decision and declared that he was satisfied with the actions he took, who in their right mind would really think they stand a chance of getting anywhere? His coat is on the shoogliest of pegs and desperate attempts to appease the less cerebral of supporters won't change that.

What it will do, however, is make Mixu look like an even bigger fool than he already does.

His lack of intelligence can perhaps be excused as a lack of managerial experience, but there's no way to disguise a lack of class. Mixu's petulant exit from the dugout without pausing to shake hands with Csaba Laszlo on Sunday was every bit as revealing as the 'get it up ye' gesture made by Riordan towards the Hearts fans. Out-witted, out-played, out-thought and most definitely out of their depth.

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Bad day at the office

If the match reports don't make gloomy enough reading, I thought I'd add some more grumbles to the mix in the wake of today's chaotic fixture at Pittodrie. WHAT was that all about? Two red cards, a handful of yellows, players kicking each other, players kicking doors, bills for broken glass. Our players weren't just useless today, it would seem that they were also somewhat bereft of anything approximating Christmas spirit.

It's often difficult to get a real idea of a game without seeing it, and the chronic commentating skills of BBC Sportsound don't often help to make this any easier, but fortunately we can always rely on the 'colourful' Hearts World for some straight talking. Gary Mackay growled his way through the 90 minutes of play while the others merely muttered occasionally and whistled through their teeth at the antics of the referee. Oh yes, Brines - another one who didn't exactly cover himself in glory. Surely something has to be done about this ridiculous excuse for an official before he causes a riot? There are few referees whose inept performances are enough to have home and away supporters singing in unison about how awful you are, but he's one of them.

The increasingly impressive Janos Balogh excepted, it would be fair to say that our team just didn't turn up today. I grimaced slightly within the first few minutes of the game when the commentator gave a wry chuckle and flippantly suggested that the players looked like they might have overindulged on the old mince pies and appeared to be unusually sluggish. I thought it was just a slow start, nothing too odd about that, but no - this was the shape of things to come.


The defenders struggled to defend, the midfielders struggled to string a pass together and as for Nade, it's difficult to know what he did or didn't do as his name was barely mentioned in amongst the flurry of reports on neat little bits of play from Aberdeen's fired up mob. It was no surprise whatsoever that Aberdeen opened the scoring, and even less of a surprise that the goal came from former Jambo Lee Miller. It was just one of those days.

By this point, I would have switched it off and gone to do something less stressful like going through my credit card statement for December, but devotion can be a painful thing...I stuck around for the second half in the hope that Csaba's bum-kicking at half-time would be enough to see our team turn up for the remaining 45 minutes. Nope, not a hope in hell. If anything, they were worse.


So then, I got to thinking about the chances of 10 players all having an off-day on the same afternoon and decided that it had to be a good sign. Surely it then follows that they will all have an equally synchronised and simultaneous bout of stupendously good form next weekend? This theory might be the ultimate in straw grabbing but with a derby looming, this is really no time for permitting the gloom to descend upon Tynecastle and it's citizens. Had we gone into next week's game against our local rivals with a carefully maintained, unbeaten run, there is no doubt in my mind that we would have lost. It's the way of the world. The ultimate in footballing sod's law.

Plus, it's one game. It's not the end of the world. It's not like we lost to Airdrie. So I'm drawing a line under this one and looking forward to our triple whammy of Hibs/Motherwell/Hibs next week instead. I'm normally too superstitious to openly admit to dreams of taking scalps from both Mixu and McGhee in the same week, but there's nothing wrong with a little controlled optimism every once in a while....

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This is Tynecastle

A month is a long time in the life of a Hearts supporter but November is one I'd gladly repeat. It's a strange feeling this hopeful optimism thing, and it had been missing for far too long. There have been ups and downs, but for once, it's a joy to be able to look back on a whole 4 weeks without shuddering in dismay or having rueful regrets over missed chances and opportunities or disasters of Lithuanian origin. So while I might live to regret unleashing this positivity upon a blog which will still be here to ponder over should it all go belly up in weeks to come, I'm going to do it anyway. I want to remember this feeling.

5 wins on the trot - what about that? We know that the media had us written off earlier in the season but I'd be surprised if there were even many amongst the Gorgie faithful who truly believed that this team could take us anywhere of note. Yet they have, and if third position is the best we can do this season it'll be a whole three places higher than my original hopes for 2008-09. There's still a long way to go before we'll know if European nights are coming to Tynecastle but simply being in a position to consider it a real possibility is something that would have generated laughter only 3 months ago.

That fragmented squad, so sparse in quality and consistency hasn't just been rejuvenated under Csaba Laszlo, it has been altered beyond recognition. Bringing on the more talented players such as Berra and Driver is an achievement, but it's not really half as impressive as the incredible change in Nade, the improvements that we have witnessed in Wallace, Zaliukas or Jonsson or the renaissance of both Karipidis and Aguiar. Csaba isn't solely responsible for their individual talents, but he is certainly due some credit for taking this mish mash squad of under-confident players and slotting them together in such a way that they are beginning to look remarkably like a good team. I might sound like I'm grateful now, but I'll really be waxing lyrical if he also manages to sort out Kingston's attitude, Stewart's temper and Miko's inconsistencies....

I don't want to ruin the mood of this blog entry so I'm not going to give screen time to the difficulties we encountered in some of these narrow wins. One goal more than your opponent is all that you need, and for as long as it brings us 3 points, I won't have any complaints about the manner of our victories. More importantly, our most recent win was jam packed full of enough spirit, skill, aggression, determination and intelligence to justify a very long list of superlatives and it was this display which brings me on to the whole point of this entry - Tynecastle.

God I love that stadium. I can confidently state that there is no place on this earth that I would rather have been than that rickety old stand on Saturday afternoon at 14:15 (+ remarkably generous additional time). When the first goal went in the place rocked, when Larry poked home the second it erupted, and when the final whistle went, Tynecastle roared so loudly they probably heard us in Leith. It took the breath away. After months of lacklustre performances from both the team and the support, it was a special moment and one which I hope goes some way to reminding these players just how incredibly proud they should be to wear that strip. If there was a man out there in maroon who didn't feel on top of the world after experiencing that, I don't care who he is, he's not cut out for Heart of Midlothian.

I could go back through this whole entry and temper the optimism with some stark facts and less inspiring realities, but I'm not going to. Even if things aren't quite so much fun in the coming weeks, for now I'm just happy to enjoy this feeling. Today, being a Jambo is great.

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The mystery of Gary Glen

So here we are, a mere day away from learning which lucky players will be chosen to pit their wits against St Mirren this weekend and as ever, much of the Jambo discussion focuses on the current problem we have in finding the back of the net. Last weekend's Celtic disaster excepted, our midfield has been looking stronger and goal scoring opportunities have been created - the only problem is that very few actually result in actual goals.

Nobody can surely criticise Nade for the considerable improvements in his all-round play, and he has done remarkably well in the lone striker role, but even he has been guilty of the occasional cock up in front of goal. Jamie Mole's workrate also cannot be faulted but his first touch is frustratingly clumsy and despite claims from those at Riccarton that he has an excellent finish, his eye for goal hasn't been obvious to those who sit in the stands. Juho Makela may have scored against the mighty Barcelona but since his return from a loan period at FC Thun, he also appears to be finding it difficult to make any impact in the reserves league and looks an unlikely prospect for the first team at any point in the near future and Mike Tullberg remains an unknown quantity thanks to the injury which has kept him largely on the sidelines since his arrival in Gorgie.

And so, we arrive at Gary Glen. Much has been made of the talents of this youngster and until fairly recently, the Hearts faithful were often regaled of his exciting exploits in the reserve and under 19s. Every cloud has a silver lining as they say, and last season's slump into the bottom half of the SPL saw us trying out some of the youth players, with Glen getting a run of 6 appearances in which he scored against ICT and St Mirren before finishing off his season as a first team player with a red card in Gretna. However, since Csaba Laszlo's arrival at Tynecastle last summer, there has been no sign of Gary in any of our SPL encounters.

With our ongoing goal problem in mind, some Hearts fans are screaming for his reinstatement and demanding his inclusion in first team affairs for the simple reason that he surely 'has to be better than what we currently have'. Me? I'm not so sure. There's no doubting that the youngster has talent and going by what has been seen of him, he's certainly not awestruck by the step up to the first team and the encounters which that brings. However, combining reports that his recent performances in the reserves have been rather lacklustre and the comments made by Csaba Laszlo about Glen at a fans Q&A suggesting that his attitude might not yet be of an ideal standard,I'm tempted to think that he may not yet be the goal scoring Messiah that we're looking for. Not right now, anyway.

We all saw what happened to Callum Elliot and while some might think that he has simply found his level at Livingston, I'd hazard a guess that the lack of pressure from the stands in West Lothian has undoubtedly contributed to his recent improvement in form. Like any young player, progress will be characterised by a period of performance peaks and troughs and unfortunately the weight of expectation can sometimes take its toll, and often to the detriment of their continued improvement as a player. Current circumstances at the club coupled with an antsy group of supporters would suggest that the burden upon Glen may be too much and I'd hate to watch the slow and methodical destruction of another youngster's confidence.

Of course, there's every chance that I make far too many assumptions about this young man, and should he appear in maroon this weekend or at any point in the coming weeks, I wish him nothing but the very best of luck. If he fails to score or to impress the onlookers, I only hope that any criticism is given in a considered and weighted fashion and that his desire to feature in the first team isn't affected. Csaba Laszlo's desire to protect younger players is evident,but this doesn't appear to affect his decision making and Lee Wallace, Eggert Jonsson et al continue to improve on a weekly basis under his tutelage - so perhaps it's fair to assume that the same would happen for Gary if and when he is given the chance.

Alternatively, if he does play and he also scores, once I've been scraped back down from the ceiling I'd be inclined to try and remember that he probably isn't going to do that every week and that our expectations should be tempered with the knowledge that his development is ongoing; he's in no way the finished article. Wonder kids coming along so rarely that it's unfair to burden him with the expectations of a group of supporters whose mood has the tendency to swing from utter despair to a euphoria borne of relief within the space of a few seconds. If we need reinforcements in any position, it's up front and while we can only hope that Vlad buys us a shiny new striker for Christmas, focus should really be on the collective improvement of the current crop and not on one sole youngster.

However, should he turn out to be the new Robbo...I'll be more than happy to say that I was wrong...

Are we expecting too much, too soon?

It's probably never a good idea to kick off a blog with a moaning session but it's impossible to avoid one after watching Hearts wither like chocolate in an oven on Sunday when they turned out against Celtic. There's no denying that as football fans, we've been through the mill in recent months (or years) and the appointment of Csaba Laszlo appeared to inject the club, players and to a certain extent the supporters with a renewed sense of vigour. Progress has been made since the beginning of the current season and improvements are visible across the board, from the club's communication with the fans right down to the squad's team spirit, and to our surprise, we've even seen the press writing some vaguely nice things about us of late. Add a cracker of a derby against Hibs and a courageous performance against the Dons to that mix and you can maybe see why, for a moment, we were thinking things might be on the mend down Gorgie way.

But then we played Celtic.

I was full of positivity and superstitiously concealed hope before the game. I cast my eye over the news in the days leading up to the match and noted that a few of their key players were injured and bolstered this little seed of confidence with the fact that their recent performances in the SPL have been a little less than brilliant. I made my way to Tynecastle on Sunday with a spring in my step, convinced that even if we didn't take 3 points, we were sure to give them a game. I was oh so wrong.

From kick off, we seemed lethargic and disorganised. Our defence which had held so well against Aberdeen the previous week looked fragile and disorientated, our midfield which had controlled the previous few SPL encounters with such confidence was disjointed and sloppy and our lone striker was very, very alone. I'll exclude Janos Balogh from any criticism given that was rarely troubled by Celtic, couldn't have done anything about Maloney's goal and Caldwell's second was the result of scrappy antics at the goalmouth which should perhaps have been ruled out anyway, but most of the outfield players just didn't seem to have turned up at all.

Our lynchpin players such as Stewart, Driver, Berra and more recently added to this list, Bruno Aguiar, all seemed to choose the same date for their 'off day' and most were anonymous throughout. We perhaps only have inconsistent refereeing to thank for the fact that Mikey managed to stay on the pitch for the whole 90 minutes given that his discipline appeared to disintegrate as the match went on and his frustrations started to bubble over into his attempts to win the ball back from a greedy, ball-hogging Celtic. However, I was just glad to see that at least one of our boys in maroon hadn't completely given up so I won't slate him for that. The only other individual worth a mention would be Christian Nade who continues to look more like the striker we thought we had bought all those months ago. He harried, nipped, bustled and at times, seemed like the only Hearts player capable of controlling a football or making an accurate pass. Gold star for him, and I look forward to seeing his continued improvement in the coming weeks. So, yes...it wasn't the most enjoyable 90 minutes I've ever spent in Tynecastle and the only reason I really managed to stay for the duration was the knowledge that it probably really couldn't get any worse.

Post-match comments from Csaba were a little odd, given that he seemed reluctant to direct any sort of criticism at the players but I'm working on the assumption that his aim here was probably damage limitation of some description, given that his comments on the club website since then have been rather less kind. Understandably, Jambos everywhere will be gutted at the result, but reactions to the team's performance are likely to be borne of a much more deeply held concern that some of this current crop just are not good enough. It has to be said that we're weaker in some positions than others, I'm hoping to see the defence bolstered by new recruits in January and regardless of how Tullberg does when he recovers from injury, I still want to see reinforcements brought in there too. But other than that, I'm quite prepared to treat last Sunday as a glitch if we can get back to the kind of performances we witnessed in the weeks prior to that. Improvements are visible and progress has been made, so maybe we need to be a little restrained and try not to expect too much too soon. By Christmas, we'll know whether or not we really do have a renewed sense of direction or whether this is the shape of things to come. Seatbelts on, it's looking like it might be a bumpy ride.