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.

No flair please - we're Jambos

I'm almost scared to say it. What if the simple act of typing the words is enough to put you straight into the bad books of the wickedly fickle gods of football? Imaginary entities they may well be, but given the turnaround in fortunes for Hearts of late, the whims of ancient spirits may well be one of the more believable explanations for the current run of results...

October wasn't really the most enjoyable of months for the average Jambo and while two draws and one loss may seem reasonable enough for a club which finished in the lower echelons of the SPL last season, it was the complete and utter lack of anything approximating competence in the art of football which had the fans rushing to the exits. Please don't misunderstand me, it's not as if many of us really believed that the SPL's 3rd highest paid squad was actually the third most talented, but when the worst of the deadwood was chopped away around the time of Csaba's arrival in Gorgie this summer, perhaps we thought we'd already seen the players at their very worst. We were effectively left with a patchwork quilt of a squad comprising a handful of talented types such as Kingston, Berra or Driver, and the remaining maroon jerseys were filled with players who might not be huge stars but seemed adequate for the task in hand. At the start of the season, they put in some decent workhorse-esque performances and we had a few pleasing results. Things were looking slightly rosier in the Gorgie garden.

But then we went to Tannadice on 27th September and all of a sudden, our modestly competent workhorses were found to be lame, Andy Driver picked up an injury, Larry Kingston started preparing for winter hibernation and poor old Berra was left to try and shore up a team who seemed to be about as 'together' as quicksand in a string vest. The result wasn't just the crap football on show, it was an attitude which manifested itself much more deeply in the players and later, also in the fans. The players were slow, disjointed, apathetic, spiritless and uncoordinated; and the fans were all of these things plus a few extra ailments in the form of frustration, anger, fear and despair.

Dundee Utd humped us 3-0 that day and a week later, Kilmarnock compounded our misery by beating us 2-1. The fans were not feeling supremely confident as the derby approached and the nervous anxiety was only slightly alleviated by the news that Hibs form had also started to slip. So derby day arrived and to cut a long story short, both sides put in typically frenzied derby-esque performances which might not have been the most skilful displays of football but inspired the Jambos to believe that the slump in form may have been a temporary glitch and that better days were on the horizon. But then we made extremely hard work of holding a struggling Aberdeen to a draw before promptly falling apart again a week later and losing to Celtic in a game that might well have ended up with a more embarassing score than 2-0 had their players not been suffering from Champions League lethargy.

So amidst rumours that the club was on the verge of hurtling head first into the administration abyss (again), the Jambos were busy contemplating what appeared to be a very long season ahead. But then it all became a little bit weird and in only 7 days, Hearts have picked up 12 points from 3 wins on the trot. Admittedly, these fixtures all featured teams languishing in the lower half of the SPL and could well have relied partly upon occasional bits of luck but there 's no doubting that a remarkable and pleasant change has occurred. The players might not have morphed overnight into budding Ronaldos or Messi's, but there's no mistaking the emergence of a new, gritty, tenacious and motivated approach. They seem stronger and more robust, and I don't know if the jaffa cake technique is back in use but they're definitely looking like they have bags more energy than they did last month.

This team have managed to dig out three 1-0 wins in the space of only 7 days and while the football itself might still be a bit crap, there's a real sense of dogged determination amongst the players which, if nutured, may well end up being the reason behind us doing not too badly at all this season. Admittedly, the 10 non-OF teams are fairly closely packed together on the current league board but with the exception of perhaps Dundee United, none of them look like teams we shouldn't be able to handle comfortably. As Csaba so eloquently explained:
"You cannot win ugly or pretty, you can win and if you win, you are always beautiful."

Wise words indeed and while the longevity of this change in attitude remains to be seen, I would certainly be more than happy to sacrifice pretty football if it means picking up 3 points on a regular basis. We're currently working with a very young team and if we happen to land that lucrative European spot, we can then maybe give more attention to the aesthetics of the football that they're churning out, but in the meantime I'm happy to stick with ugly. Jambos don't do flair anyway.

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...