Last week the nominations were released, with the Hearts manager a surprise omission.  Instead, Gordon Strachan, the Celtic boss who already has this season’s League Cup under his belt, was nominated along with St. Johnstone manager Derek McInnes and last year’s winner Billy Reid.  The disadvantages of having the vote six weeks before the season’s end have become apparent, especially after the weekend’s results. Reid could still see his side relegated from their first ever campaign in the SPL, and St. Johnstone are beginning to show the same signs of choking as they did two seasons ago when they eventually surrendered their lead to Gretna and missed out on promotion.  Strachan is chasing his fourth title in as many years at Celtic Park but is a mere one point ahead of, what some have claimed is, the worst Rangers side for many years.

At the risk of sounding biased, I was shocked when Csaba’s name was not among those nominated.  In July when Csaba Laszlo was unveiled as the new manager of Hearts, the club was in turmoil.  The support had been starved of a full-time manager for almost two and a half years and some could have been excused for being highly suspicious of Csaba after being promised a British, or at least a British style manager.  Csaba has not only stabilised things, he has completely turned the club around.  Adding to his squad only two outfield players and two goalkeepers, he has taken a team that finished in eighth place last season to one on the verge of finishing third and clinching a place in next season’s re-branded Europa League.

Exiting both cups in the early stages may have worked against Csaba being considered for the above award but surely his performance in the league alone, including his record against the Old Firm (unbeaten in the last four against the Glasgow sides) and the fact that Hearts have only lost two home matches all season, all this with a lack of a strikeforce, should have been enough.

Csaba is now the longest serving manager of the Romanov era – not the greatest claim to fame, there really isn’t much competition – and seems to be the only one so far, less the puppets such as Eduard Malofeev and Korobochka, who has been able to have a working relationship with the owner.  However, this could be down to the Russian-born Lithuanian tycoon taking more of a backseat in affairs at Tyncecastle and is finally letting the man in charge do what he is employed to do.

Half hour press conferences, four minute answers to single questions in post-match interviews, touchline antics and post-match celebrations that are all dripping with a passion for the game seem to have filtered through to the players and this has shown, not only with the commitment and never-say-die attitude shown in each performance but the aforementioned home record – only Celtic and Kilmarnock have managed to take three points away from Tynecastle this season.  Moreover, the same players who last season would have crumbled after going 1-0 down early on in matches have kept their heads up and gone on to take points.  In recent weeks Kilmarnock and Celtic have taken early leads, only for Hearts to take the game to their opponents straight from the restart.  One of the most notable of such occasions was when Hearts managed to turn a 1-0 half-time score into an important 2-1 win over Aberdeen in the battle for third place.

Working with youngsters was highlighted as one of Csaba’s strengths when he took the reins at Tynecastle but some in the Hearts support have been disappointed with the lack of youth players who have made appearances this season.  In Csaba’s defence, the Hearts first team squad is already on the young side, this was especially so at the start of the season before the most experienced campaigner Robbie Neilson returned from injury.  Protecting young players as they make the step up is something Csaba speaks of regularly, citing striker Gary Glen as an example.  He has pointed out that too much first team exposure too soon can be counterproductive, hindering rather than aiding their progression.  Some of the younger players already established as first team regulars have come on leaps and bounds this season with Lee Wallace, still only 21, being arguably the most improved player under the new boss.  Andy Driver, nominated for the players’ young player award, is the club’s second top scorer and on his day is as exciting to watch as any other in the league.  The versatility of young Icelandic international Eggert Jonsson has been another highlight of the season.  In a recent press conference, Csaba said that he thanked God every day for such a player.  Jonsson had already shown signs of promise as a central midfielder pre-Csaba but has flourished this season under his leadership, especially when you consider he has played in almost every position apart from his natural one.

The loss of club captain Christophe Berra in January, and lack of a replacement, looked as though it may have weakened the side and subsequently their ambitions of finishing in third but Csaba has taken it in his stride, sacrificing Karipidis from midfield to play alongside Zaliukas.  It was unfortunate that Karipidis, a candidate for player of the year in my opinion, had to be sacrificed from the defensive midfield role as this was a masterstroke from Csaba to deploy him there.  However, his replacement Ruben Palazuelos has stepped in and performed just as well and has actually been one of the stand-out performers in recent weeks.

The future is certainly looking bright for Hearts’ young squad, although who comes and goes this summer will have a huge bearing on how the team fares next season.  Some key players, including Karipidis, Zaliukas (the only two first team central defenders currently at the club), Aguiar and Palazuelos, amongst others will be out of contract in the summer and, if recent transfer windows are anything to go by, it would seem Romanov is now reluctant to splash the cash the manner he did during the 2005/06 campaign.  Added to this the fact that it will be difficult for the club to turn down big offers for players like Andy Driver, Lee Wallace and David Obua, should they come in from interested suitors.  Hearts could possibly find themselves rebuilding the squad just as it was showing signs of cementing its place as the third force in Scotland and possibly even pushing on further.

Another worry is whether Hearts will be able to hold on to the main man himself.  Csaba won the Hungarian Trainer of the Year in his first and only season in charge of Ferencvaros and some in the press have tipped him for the equivalent award in this country, the writers’ award that it.  If he keeps up this kind of work it will only be a matter of time before he, like some of his current squad, is attracting interest from bigger clubs.

It could be argued that Gary Glen is the obvious candidate for an extended run in the first team to see if he can grab the goals the side sorely lacks, although Csaba has already urged caution in throwing him in too often too soon.  Either that or he doesn’t like the attitude of the player because the ability is evidently there.

Csaba will more than likely stick with Christian Nade, whose scoring record is so awful it is becoming a joke.  Not only that but he doesn’t even look close to scoring.  There seems no reason to be optimistic on that front.

Elsewhere on the park we are more of less covered.  From left to right we have an abundance of midfielders, the goalkeeping situation is the best it has been since we had Craig Gordon and we are decent enough at full back.  Eggert Jonsson’s versatility is enough to make up for the fact that we only have one recognised first-team left-back.

The only other cause for concern is the space left at the back by our recently departed captain.  Jonsson filled in for Berra on Saturday, and had done the week previous in the absence of Marius Zaliukas, but has proved during these performances that he is not a central defender.  In the last two matches, during set pieces, he has allowed his man to peel away from him and score.

Although in his defence, I have no idea why he was marking Simon Mensing in the first place – he’s just not commanding enough.  And that is the reason he cannot play in this position.  Against Hamilton he barely won a header all day, something that was bread and butter for Berra.

I don’t want to be unfair to Jonsson.  He is still young and, as I have pointed out before, has been one of the stand out performers for us this season, even though he hasn’t played one game in his natural position.

So what are the options?

Christos Karipidis came to the club as a central defender but found the competition too much.  This season under Csaba he has flourished in his newly adopted defensive midfield role.  Moving him back to partner Zaliukas would potentially weaken the midfield but we have cover there in Ruben Palazuelos.  Either him or Jonsson.  Just not Jonsson at centre-half please!

The other option is young Ryan McGowan, under-19s player of the season for 2007/08.  McGowan has only made a few substitute appearances and obviously lacks experience.  However, he is highly rated.  It took Berra time to get comfortable with becoming a first-team regular, like it did for Paul Ritchie did ten years previous, and they both went on to become fine players for Hearts.
Yes we would have to be put up with a few ‘green’ moments if McGowan became Berra’s replacement, and he may cost us a few points in the run-in for an ever-tight chase for a Europa Cup spot, but I am confident he will grow into an exciting player.

In his debut against Gretna last season, I remember him beating four players in a Dave McPherson-type run.  Although this is most probably not the skill he’ll be known for.  Mind you, neither was Dave McPherson!

I am almost certain that Csaba will stick with the same defence that lined up against Hamilton.  However I hope that I am wrong in this assumption.  The best short-term solution would be to sacrifice Karipidis from the midfield but the most preferable option, in my own opinion, would be to give McGowan the chance to show what he is made of.

Neilson made minimal contact with McCarthy outside the box but the Republic of Ireland U21 international stayed on his feet, continued into the box and fell over under no contact.  If any infringement was made, it should have resulted in a free-kick as the only contact there was took place outside the box.

The Hamilton players celebrate after winning a dubious penalty.

In the lead up to the first goal, Smith, and more so his assistant, also failed to spot a handball by Richard Offiong before the same player won a corner for his side.  Hamilton subsequently caught Hearts napping, something Caley had caught us out with a few times seven days previous, and Brian Easton’s cross was nodded in by Simon Mensing.  This was the first sign that we were going to miss the presence of Christophe Berra, who had travelled down south to discuss a contract with Championship side Wolves earlier that day.

Another incident that was missed by Smith was Hearts’ penalty claim in the first half with the score at 1-0, when Troy McClenahan appeared to control the ball in the box with his arm.  I has to be said however that despite the errors from the officials, Hearts didn’t really turn up for the match and the team looked as though they could have played until the transfer deadline and still not scored.  Christian Nade was again ineffective and he failed to even hit the target during the eighty minutes that he played.

Eggert Jonsson, who partnered Marius Zaliukas in central defence, has been one of the stand out performers for Hearts this season but his display on Saturday is evidence that he lacks the attributes to play in this position.  With only a few hours left of the transfer window it looks unlikely a replacement for Berra will be signed.  Our options include either promoting young Ryan McGowan from the reserves, or else moving Christos Karipidis back from defensive midfield.

Karipidis, for the second game in a row, had a poor game but the most worrying thing about his performance on Saturday was that he sat far too deep.  We effectively played with three central defenders for much of the match.

The only players who looked as though they could have made something happen were midfield trio Andy Driver, although he seemed to get worse as the game wore on, Michael Stewart and David Obua.  Obua and Stewart linked up to hit the post and Stewart pulled a great point blank save out of Accies keeper Tomas Cerny.

Csaba Laszlo brought on Laryea Kingston, Gary Glen and Calum Elliot towards the end of the match, however, these changes seemed to come too late and the side struggled to break down the two layers of Hamilton defence.

Hamilton were one of the league’s form sides going into the game at the weekend but Hearts will see this as points dropped, especially when a win would have taken us into third place with Dundee United and Aberdeen also losing.  Further, a win would have put some space between us and the Dons before the two teams meet at Tynecastle in the next league match in a fortnight.

Next week it’s the Scottish Cup 5th Round where Hearts have a home tie against Falkirk.  Anyone got any idea who Hibs have got?

Berra, a product of the Hearts youth academy, made his debut as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat to Dundee United in 2003 and made his first start in a 1-1 draw away to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park in March 2004. It wasn’t until after the infamous ‘Riccarton Three’ incident in 2006, that culminated in the then club-captain Steven Pressley leaving, that Berra finally got his chance to establish himself as a first team regular.

After the transfer of Craig Gordon to Sunderland at the start of the 2007-08 season, Berra was made club-captain and led the side through one of its most difficult season in recent years.  The side finished outside the top six for the first time since the split began but this was as much due to the turmoil off the field as on it.

Since the appointment of Csaba Laszlo Berra has flourished, becoming much more of leader on the park and more willing to get his foot on the ball and drive forward.  His recent form has rightfully attracted interest from some top clubs south of the border although it looks as though he may have to win promotion with Wolves to fulfil his ambition of playing in the Premiership.

Berra has made three substitute appearances for Scotland, all coming last year.

Maybe I’m being a bit premature but I would be surprised if Berra failed to agree terms with Wolves, although I suppose it is possible another one of his admirers could step in to highjack the move.  Wolves’ recent bid of £2m was rejected in an “unethical” manner, according to Mick McCarthy, as Hearts held out for £3m.  No information has been given as to the amount the clubs have agreed on but I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out to be an initial fee of £2-£2.5m with a further £500k-1m to be added should Wolves make it to the Premiership.

We were under no illusion that we needed to sell to balance the books, never mind sign anyone for ourselves, but we now have two days to replace Berra and/or sign that much needed striker.

Although possessing some of the league’s oldest campaigners the Accies squad has its fair share of exciting young talent, none more so than James McCarthy. The 18-year-old midfielder has been one of the stand out performers for Hamilton this season and will be one of his team’s main threats tomorrow.  He will be expected to get forward along with Paul McGowan and support lone-striker Richard Offiong, who scored the winner against Kilmarnock last week, has six goals this season so far, and will be looking to make up for the sitter he missed during his substitute appearance at Tynecastle the last time the two sides met.

Like Accies, Hearts’ recent defensive record also reads quite well, although what the stats fail to show is the chances the opposition have been allowed but failed to convert in recent weeks.  A fortnight ago Kilmarnock had three chances they should have scored before Hearts even got a sniff at goal; and likewise, more recently, Inverness missed two glaring opportunities with the score still deadlocked.  A few of said chances have been our inability to defend effectively at set-pieces but the return of Marius Zaliukas should help strengthen us in this department.  Eggert Jonsson, who deputised for Zaliukas during his recent suspension, has performed no matter where he has played this season (perhaps with the exception of right midfield) but he has been caught out a few times in the last few games.  It would be slightly unfair for Jonsson to be dropped for tomorrow’s encounter but I would much prefer to have Zaliukas back alongside Berra.

The rest of the side will likely remain unchanged from the victory last week.  Ruben Palazuelos is still out injured and Laryea Kingston, who scored the winner in that game, is still recovering and will likely start on the bench again.  “The Balogh” has recovered from injury but is still not officially a Hearts player so Jamie MacDonald will continue in goals.

Recent stats would suggest there will not be many goals tomorrow and Hearts will almost definitely be once again relying on the goals to come from midfield.  Christian Nade continues to look one of the least likely players to get on the scoresheet, but with little competition and the clubs lack of activity in the transfer market there are few other options.

Possible line-ups:

Hamilton

Cerny

McClenahan McLaughlin  Canning Easton

Neil

Mensing    McCarthur

McGowan                      McCarthy

Offiong

Hearts

MacDonald

Neilson Zaliukas Berra Wallace

Karipidis  Stewart

Obua           Aguiar         Driver

Nade

Aberdeen and Dundee United have also managed to take points off the Glasgow sides recently, leaving the battle for third place wide open.

Speculation about many of our top players has been rife during the current transfer window, although reports of a “fire sale” from some of the tabloid press have proved to be wide of the mark.  Five days remain until the deadline and one or two could still leave, with names like Driver, Berra and Stewart reportedly attracting interest from England, Italy, Germany and Ukraine.

It was one of the above mentioned names, Andy Driver, who really made the difference on Saturday. It sounds crazy but although he didn’t have the best of games, the four occasions he did manage to get in behind the full back he created three goals and won a penalty – which Stewart failed to convert at 1-1.  Caley Thistle left-back Rory McBain was booked for bringing Driver down and, in a moment of madness, was subsequently sent off for gesturing towards the linesman once his keeper had bailed him out.

Russell Duncan made post-match comments to the effect that his team-mate hadn’t made contact and that Driver had dived but the images clearly show McBain holding on to the Hearts youngster’s arm.

Hearts dominated the first half but failed to really trouble a defensive-minded Inverness side, who had just sacked Craig Brewster after seven straight defeats. And true to form, in a game they should have walked (on paper anyway), Hearts struggled and could have even ended up suffering their first home defeat since November.

David Obua, who has gone from villain to hero in the space of ninety minutes, opened the scoring not long before the break in an uneventful first half. He rose above goalkeeper Ryan Esson to nod the ball down before a combination of himself and McBain forced it over the line.  Many referees would have whistled for a foul on the keeper but it is good to see them not being over protected for once.  I am not a fan of the protection keepers get, especially when they already have a height advantage by being able to use their hands and usually jump with a protruding knee, and it was good to see a referee who doesn’t blow just because someone has gone within six feet of the man between the sticks.

Hearts defensive record of late speaks for itself, conceding only twice in the six matches prior to Saturday’s encounter.  However, frailties were apparent when defending set-pieces.  Dougie Imrie missed an absolute sitter of a free header in the first half and it was through this method that recent signing Pavels Mihadjuks managed to wriggle free of Jonsson before heading Don Cowie’s free-kick past MacDonald.

Caley then took the game to a dazed home side and for a while looked as if they could take the lead.  But Hearts managed to regain control and eventually got themselves back in front when Driver again linked up with Obua, who used his height advantage to get above Proctor and nod the ball in. The Ugandan international has taken a lot of stick from the demanding Hearts support, and to be fair he has deserved some of it, but he will have won over many of them with his display here.

The game seemed all but over when Obua gave away a stupid free kick around thirty yards from goal with around a minute of normal time remaining.  Imrie, who couldn’t score a free header from two yards, rifled one of the best free-kicks that is likely to be seen at Tynecastle into the top corner of the goal.

A point would have been a tremendous result for ten-man Caley, who currently sit bottom of the SPL table, but within ten seconds of the restart Hearts regained the lead.  Michael Stewart sent a terrific ball down the right wing for Driver who cut inside and found substitute Laryea Kingston unmarked to score the winner.

It was an undeserved victory for Hearts but once again they have shown character that has been lacking the previous two seasons.  Wallace, Berra, Obua and Stewart (minus the penalty miss) all put in good performances but Driver deserves the most praise for his three assists, even though he blew hot and cold during the rest of the match.

It is no secret that we need a new striker, we rely on our midfield to get too many of our goals.  Stephen Frail gave our lone-striker Christian Nade the man of the match award on BBC Radio Scotland but he was either watching a recording of a different game, or this is further evidence as to why he wasn’t successful as Hearts manager.  Nade has scored two goals in twelve matches and only managed one shot on goal in the entire match on Saturday.  He is rarely in a scoring position, finds himself far too deep too often and expects the wingers to do his closing down for him.

If we added a quality striker to our ranks then I am fairly confident will find ourselves in third place come the end of the season.  The only problem being it looks as if we need to sell one of our top players for this to happen.

The highlights of the match can be seen (from a UK IP address) here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7843797.stm

Hearts 1 Inverness 0

“Good football is nothing, nice football is nothing, success is the key”, said Csaba Laszlo in Friday’s pre-match press conference, and that pretty much sums up the ninety minutes. In fact, they could easily be mistaken for words spoken after the match.

A seventh minute goal perhaps suggested that Hearts would go on to win the match comfortably but a sparse second period performance allowed Inverness to dominate the half, without taking advantage.

It was Miko who provided the goal when he raced onto Audrius Ksanavicius’ through ball after Caley captain Grant Munro failed to get his head on a long punt from Kello.

Hearts had their Slovakian goalkeeper to thank for a commanding performance, which ensured a first clean sheet for the team in the league this season.

He was exceptionally quick of his line for two of Caley’s chances in the first half – one to block a shot from Phil McGuire, the other to take the ball from the feet of Andy Barrowman – to clean up the occasional lapse from his back four.

A save from a low McBain effort after he found himself free in the box wrapped up an impressive performance from Kello, who looks as if he could turn out to be a real capture for Csaba.

The team defended well on the whole, although Wallace still seems the weak link at left back. Ruben Palazuelos was brought on for Miko towards the end of the match to offer the Scotland under-21 international more protection.

However, the main problem was the team’s inability to retain possession during the second half, which allowed Inverness to pile on the pressure. Not only were we second to every ball, the forwards were unable to hold the ball up for any period of time.

Hopefully Tullberg will be the man to help solve this problem.

Mole lacks the ability to score enough goals and there will come a point where hard work just isn’t good enough. As for Ksanavicius, his first touch was horrendous and most of the time his second touch was a sliding tackle.

Even Nade, when he came on, didn’t make much of a contribution.

Another Scotland call-up may beckon for Mikey Stewart if he continues this early season form and he was once again one of the stand out performers. He was terribly unlucky when he attempted to lob Fraser with a first half volley and pulled the strings in midfield for the first half.

Miko was another who I was really impressed with this week. He took his goal well and looked the most likely to create more. An extended run in the team could finally see him hit the form we have been waiting for and I would be happy to see him and Driver, when he is fit, lining up on either wing.

But the best man on the park, in a Hearts jersey at least, was Kello. If it wasn’t for him we could have easily been 1-0 down early in the match and, on our overall performance, I’m not convinced we would have recovered. He commanded his area well and caught everything that came near him. He even came ten yards off his line in the last few minutes to catch an Inverness throw.

Many were critical that Kello was just another Kaunas dud and that Banks was a safer option but he is slowly proving himself to be a solid keeper.

In the post-match interview, Csaba claimed that if your team wins every match 1-0 then everyone is happy. Even though I am happy we have extended our 100% home record, I’m not sure if I could bear watching a performance like that every week.

Before Saturday’s match Falkirk were bottom of the league with no points. In fact they were the only team in the four Scottish divisions not to have chalked up any points so far. So with Hearts being Hearts, we allowed them their first win and points of the season.

Despite our impressive start, and Falkirk’s dismal one, the Bairns must still have known that this was a great chance to finally get off the mark. Even with Hearts’ proneness to fail in situations such as these notwithstanding, Falkirk away has never been a fixture we look forward to. Since 1992, in all competitions, Hearts have only managed two wins in thirteen attempts.

Moving from Brockville to the Falkirk stadium during this period, it seems, has done nothing to reverse this trend. But surely there has to be more of a reason than: ‘Falkirk away is one of our bogey fixtures’.

John Hughes is a former Hibs player and, in recent years, his added determination to get one over his old rivals may have filtered down to his players come match day. However, if this were the case, then surely Falkirk would have a better record against us at Tynecastle – since Hughes became manager, Falkirk have never won in against Hearts in Gorgie.

Another argument put forward by some is that there has been no real progress under Csaba Laszlo and the victories so far this season – three wins in five – display nothing more than the club’s ability to paper over the cracks.

I believe this argument fallacious for a number of reasons.

To begin with, two of the matches in which we have recorded victories, we have been pegged back and still gone on to win. On the opening day of the season, Motherwell drew level with less than ten minutes of the ninety remaining. In our next home fixture, against St Mirren, we were leading until the 70th minute when the visitors equalised with their first attempt on target.

In both of these instances we managed to grind out a win, a mentality that was rarely on display during the previous campaign.

In the last two seasons, Hearts have also found it difficult against the newly promoted sides. Last year we only managed one win in four attempts against Gretna, while the season before we failed to beat St Mirren at all over three matches. We have already beaten this year’s new-boys Hamilton away, their first defeat on their home turf since April last year.

Our start to the season compared to last is another reason for believing that things have actually improved under Csaba. After five matches we were sitting ninth with five points and had just recorded our first win of the season. The previous four matches had included a 1-1 draw at home to Gretna and a 5-0 thrashing by Celtic.

Currently we sit fifth (or joint fourth on points) with nine points, only one off second and four off the top. Hardly remarkable progress but steady nonetheless.

On top of this we are playing better football. There are still some weak links in the side but at least the team is trying to pass the ball about and retain possession a bit more.

Mole is not the answer in attack; he did make a decent start to the season, but he has so far been the only fully fit option available to Csaba. Nade still isn’t 100%, Tullberg is injured and Glen has himself only just recovered.

Despite the deficiencies of our attack we have still managed eight goals so far and statistically you would think that it is the defence that needs tightening up if anything. Left back Lee Wallace can be faulted for three or four goals this season, including Falkirk’s opener at the weekend, which came after only three minutes.

He has ability and potential to be better but for the moment he needs a few weeks on the sidelines. The trouble we have is that there doesn’t seem to be anyone else competing for his position. Csaba said, while the transfer window was open, that full backs were needed because we had began the season with two young players in these positions and when they are not playing well they need to be taken out before their confidence suffers too much. However, no full backs were brought in and Wallace is costing us in most matches.

At the beginning of August I did say that the most important thing for me this season was turning Tynecastle back into a place where other teams didn’t pick up too many points. At this stage last season we had taken only one point from two home games against Hibs and Gretna. So far this season we have taken maximum points from our two home fixtures.

I admit that not everything is rosy at the moment but there are signs of improvement. The squad is still quite thin in places and other than Obua, Tullberg, Mrowiec, Kello, Balogh and McDonald – the latter three of are these goalkeepers and two of the five are currently injured -, Csaba is working, and has already shown some progress, with the same squad of players.

Half way through the season will of course give us a better indication of how well the team is actually doing but for now it seems that Csaba has steadied the ship and has us not only playing better football but winning matches we wouldn’t have done last season. With the exception of Falkirk away.

Driver will be missed most after an impressive start to the season – he managed a goal and an assist in the most recent victory over Hamilton.

Despite these absentees, Csaba still has quite a few options available to him. Miko was on the bench last week and will almost certainly start tomorrow, either on the right or the left wing. Ksanavicius prefers a role just off the striker but could be asked to fill in for Driver on the left.

Other options include Gary Glen, although playing him would probably mean a change of system as I am not sure him or Mole would be suited to playing in the hole with the other as a lone striker. Christian Nade could play just behind Mole in attack, although it is likely he wouldn’t be able to last the whole match.

So the team for tomorrow could look something like this:

Kello

Jonsson Zaliukas Berra Wallace

Kingston Stewart Karipidis Mikoliunas

Ksanavicius

Mole

After a good start to the season, Hearts travel to the Falkirk Stadium tomorrow. With Rangers entertaining Kilmarnock at Ibrox tomorrow, we know a win would take us into the top two with one of our own trips to Ibrox already out of the way.

The international break came at a bad time for Csaba Laszlo, who has already stated that with so little time to prepare, it will be difficult to prepare the team and continue the momentum, which has seen his side take nine points from a possible twelve so far this season.

The most worrying thing for me, however, is that Falkirk are bottom with no points. This usually means that we are likely to give them their first point(s).

Last season when we visited Inverness, they were bottom of the league with no points after six games played. We surrendered a 1-0 lead and finally went down 2-1. Two weeks ago St Mirren were one of only two sides in Scotland still not to have scored and, as I predicted, they got their first against us. It remains the only goal they have scored in the league this season.

There are many other examples of this type of thing over recent years and I hope that we can buck the trend and get the result we really should be getting on Saturday.

Falkirk were many people’s tip, including mine, to break into the top six this year after some impressive signings. However, a poor start, not helped by the amount of injuries, has left them looking to get some points on the board before they can even think about going on to the “next level” – a favourite phrase of manager John Hughes.

Falkirk are often praised for their willingness to play a slick passing game but this has sometimes contributed to the team’s downfall as good football doesn’t always bring success. With the resources available to Hughes he would maybe be better off with a more direct approach with two banks of four, taking a ’safety first’ appraoch.

In saying that, a fully fit Falkirk squad, even with his preferred 4-1-3-2 formation, would cause most teams in the division problems but the casualty list is still pretty long going into tomorrow’s match.

Burton O’Brien, Thomas Scobbie and Steve Lovell are all on the road to recovery, they all appeared as substitutes against Inverness and could feature again on Saturday. Neil McCann, who struggled with injury for almost his entire second spell at Hearts is allegedly on his way back, although I will believe this when I see it.

Hearts have their own injury problems to worry about and it seems that new signing Mike Tullberg’s thigh problem is worse than first thought. He is currently seeking help in his homeland and it is not know when he will be available. Robbie Neilson has undergone an operation and has targeted a November return; Bruno Aguiar will be ready for the reserves soon.

The invisible man, Mirsad Beslija, has yet again picked up an injury and will be at least another month. Honestly, I have given up hope on this boy!

So it should be more of the same in terms of team selection for Hearts. New signing Adrian Mrowiec could be in contention after missing the birth of his child to play in a closed door match against St Johnstone, although he may have to get in the queue of central midfielders at the club already.

He is a defensive midfielder and since we have been playing a centre half – Karipidis – in this position, he may find himself in the team sooner rather than later. Ruben Palazuelos, who has sat patiently on the bench this season, must be wondering if he will get many chances this season and when Aguiar is fit Csaba will have a tough time keeping everyone happy.

Although Hearts have had the better of the Falkirk since their promotion in 2005, the Falkirk Stadium hasn’t provided the Hearts support with the most memorable occasions. In the five visits since Falkirk moved to their new home we have only won their once, with the Bairns winning two and the other two ending in draws.

They also got the better of us last season, culminating in a lacklustre display which ended in a 2-1 defeat.

This season we are more organised and more dangerous going forward. Driver and Stewart are on form, Mole will work the centre halfs and Kello had made an impressive start – even for someone on loan from Kaunas.

Falkirk have some exciting young players in Scott Arfield and Mark Stewart but they look incredibly weak defensively and if we perform, we should be heading back to Tynecastle with another three points. ‘mon the Hearts!!

And another thing…

The transfer window closed with failed, late attempts attempts to bring Derek Riordan and Alan Gow in on loan, with both agreeing moves to other clubs instead. Riordan opted for city rivals Hibs, the team he moved to Celtic from, for more than double what the Champions paid for him two years ago.

So, his career has been set back two years after he languished in the Celtic reserves, obviously not favoured by Gordon Strachan even though the little ginger one mentioned at one point last season that he could have done with a few extra strikers?? Further to this, Celtic have made a profit and have apparently secured a sell-on fee, should Riordan decide to desert his beloved club once again.

That is not even to mention the off-field baggage he comes with and the fact that half of the Hearts support would have been on his back if he didn’t start performing from the off. We probably could have done with another striker but we still have Tullberg and Nade to return to full fitness.

In the end I am glad we didn’t sign him.