Valdas Ivanauskas wasn’t best pleased. In the aftermath of yet another triumph in a Tynecastle Edinburgh derby for the boys in maroon, the Hearts Head Coach was seething the day after the Boxing Day clash. The reason for the big Lithuanian’s ire was not difficult to fathom. He was enraged by comments attributed to his counterpart at Hibernian FC. John Collins had said his team had played all the football, had played some fantastic stuff even when they were down to ten men and had dominated the second half. Hearts, he was quoted as saying, were little better than a pub team. Ivanauskas raged at those comments; the rest of us merely creased in laughter as the Hibernian Comedy Club took its encore after a highly amusing display at Tynecastle. Well, after all it is pantomime season…
Now John Collins is one of the more intelligent men in Scottish football (although quite what he was thinking when he took the Hibs job is another matter) Normally articulate, thoughtful and passionate about the game we all love, the former Scotland player may well have feasted on a suspect turkey on Christmas Day as some of his ramblings twenty four hours later after his team’s 3-2 defeat in Gorgie appeared to me to be the outpouring of someone who had lost all sense of credibility. The game I witnessed saw Hearts well on top at 2-0, admittedly thanks in part to another comic performance from the Hibernian custodian Zibby Malkowski. Many Hibees have not forgotten – or forgiven – the Polish goalkeeper’s error-strewn performance in the Scottish Cup semi-final mauling at Hampden Park last April and many of those of the green persuasion could scarcely believe Malkowski was still playing for Edinburgh’s second team several months on. Hearts fans hadn’t forgotten either and the sarcastic chanting of his name and the ‘Zibby, Zibby, gie us a wave’ directive clearly bemused the keeper who enraged the visiting fans behind his goal in the first half by obliging the home support with a wave. Malkowski’s inexplicable spilling of one the softest free-kicks Paul Hartley will ever strike to enable ‘Eddie’ Jankauskas to open his scoring account for the season was the icing on the cake and, far from dominating the game, there appeared to be no way back for the wee team at that stage.
But it’s to Hibs credit that they did and when they equalised the alarm bells were ringing for the home support. Within minutes, the award of a soft penalty when Barasa nudged Dean Shiels in the penalty box indicated the pendulum was about to swing Hibs way for the first time that afternoon. It swung right back in Hearts direction when young Shiels barged into Craig Gordon after scoring with the penalty kick and rightly received a red card for his trouble. John Collins was outraged at this decision as were several Hibbies but I can’t, for the life of me, understand their dissent. Had Shiels performed this stunt out on Gorgie Road after the game he would have been lifted by Lothian and Border’s finest before you could say ‘jingle bells’.
It’s a long running joke among Hearts supporters that Hibs fans are deluded. This stems from the followers of the wee team insisting that theirs is the team that plays football. Plays a passing game, the beautiful game, and the best football in Scotland. Hey, doesn’t everyone know that it was the Hibs team that toured South America in 1954 that taught the Brazil team of Pele, Jairzinho and Carlos Alberto how to play the game, the result of which was a World Cup triumph in Mexico sixteen years later? Aidan Smith’s excellent book Heartfelt – in which the well-known Hibby journalist spends a season following a proper football team - alludes to Hibs love of the passing game throughout. Now I know why a very good friend of mine never tires of telling me how it has always been Hibernian who have been the flair team of the capital. Such declarations are the stuff of comic genius and it’s obvious that John Collins has been smitten by the hallucination bug that seems to afflict nearly every manager who takes charge at Easter Road (Alex Miller and Bobby Williamson being the notable exceptions) I loved Gary Mackay’s comment on Hearts World last week when he said Collins should be used to losing the Edinburgh derby as he lost plenty when he was a player! Perhaps Hearts fans should be thankful for our neighbours continued delusions of grandeur. It’s been another dramatic season for the JTs but it seems one thing never changes. At the time of writing Hearts are still above Hibernian in the SPL. A Hibernian team that plays such beautiful, silky football with the cream of young Scottish talent (although there were more Scots in the Hearts team on Boxing Day) And if that makes Hearts a pub team it’s worth considering where that leaves Hibernian.
May I wish everyone a belated Happy New Year. And I’ll have another pint over here when you’re ready please Valdas…
Mike Smith, 13 January 2007
It seems to me such thinking has taken over Heart of Midlothian Football Club. Vladimir Romanov rules the roost and anyone challenging him appears to be swiftly taken care of. Just ask George Burley (well you can ask but he’s party to a confidentiality clause). Ask Phil Anderton, presently pursuing a six-figure compensation fee for his sacking more than a year ago. And you can also now ask Steven Pressley, a man who has done so much for Hearts in the eight and a half years he’s been at Tynecastle. He challenged Romanov in a very public manner a few weeks ago. And now he’s paying the price. And like those lapdogs at the Kremlin all those years ago it seems the publicity people at Tynecastle daren’t go against the party line for fear of heading the same way as Burley, Anderton and Pressley. The Tynecastle Three.
Last Friday evening the news broke that Pressley had been omitted from the Hearts squad due to head for Paisley on Saturday morning. I heard the news late on Friday as I had been out for few drinks and my hangover kicked in several hours earlier than expected when I read the story on the BBC website. Naturally the newspapers were full of it the next day and speculation was rife. Someone told me Kickback, the Hearts fans forum, was close to meltdown and I could well have believed it. But on the official Hearts website all was sweetness and light as usual. No mention of Hearts captain being given the cold shoulder for the second time in three weeks. No mention of any behind the scenes confrontation. Not even an attempt to douse the flames of speculation that was inferno like on Hearts fans forums and early editions of the Saturday newspapers.
As has happened so many times over the past fourteen months, I tried to make sense of this latest bombshell to hit Gorgie. Apparently Pressley’s wife was due to give birth so I clung to the hope that this was the reason why the skipper wouldn’t be boarding the bus to Paisley. But knowing Steven I knew he would have tried everything possible to play for Hearts - I thought it unlikely he would decide twenty-four hours before that he wasn’t going to play. But then the Scottish Players’ Union came out and condemned Hearts treatment of the skipper as ‘wholly unjustified.’ At that stage all hope of a suitable explanation had disappeared - just like Hearts hopes of winning their first game in eight weeks did with a 2-2 draw with last season’s First Division champions.
But still there was nothing from the Hearts website, only a rather gushing appraisal of yet another performance which yielded no victory. This was perestroika in reverse. Reminiscent of the old Soviet news agency, Tass, it seems Hearts officials only tell supporters what they want to tell them. But as paying customers, surely the Hearts support has a right to know what’s going on? Much has been made of the near full-houses at every Hearts home game this season but if the club think they can treat those loyal fans with contempt then they are treading a very dangerous path. I recently submitted an article for my column for the Hearts match day programme only to be told the club felt they were unable to use it. Fair enough, I thought, that’s their prerogative. It was the first time in over a year the club had rejected my musings – and by a less than remarkable coincidence it was the first time one of my articles had pleaded for stability at the club. Tut-tut, the Tynecastle Kremlin must have thought. We can’t have any dissenting voices against Vlad in the official Hearts publication. Which I can understand but it merely strengthens my opinion that Romanov has the final say on everything at the club – from programme content to team selection. And if anyone doesn’t like it or what he has to say then they are shown the exit door quicker than a Russian diplomat goes down with poisoning. It’s interesting that Hearts are presently promoting The Beat, the club’s new glossy magazine. The blurb says there’s no bull, no bias and no strings. No strings, eh? I think I’ll stick with Planet Hearts, thanks…
Now I don’t want to criticise the marketing and publicity team at Tynecastle too much. After all they have a living to make like the rest of us. But it’s worth thinking about the next time Hearts plead with me to renew my Hearts World subscription. Treating the fans with a bit more respect wouldn’t go amiss. After all Hearts surely don’t want to start another cold war…
Mike Smith, 8 December 2006
It’s a measure of how psychologically damaging that day at Dens Park in 1986 was that Hearts opponents tomorrow still invoke feelings of disgust among many Hearts supporters. Few Jambos who endured the trauma of events on Tayside that day have forgotten how Celtic required a five goal swing on that final league Saturday of season 1985/86 - and felt their unease turn to panic at half-time when crackly radios relayed the news that Davie Hay’s men had scored four goals in the first half. Just in front of me on the slopes of Dens Park behind the goal, there was nearly a punch up between two Hearts fans who were clearly angered to hear the news no one wanted to hear. Celtic, as we all know, scored another goal in the second half which in the end they didn’t need as one Albert Kidd esquire entered the field as a late Dundee substitute to score his first and second goals of the season to not only end the Hearts dream but to invoke a nightmare which is still painful to recall more than twenty years on.
I have to say, however, that I’ve never subscribed to the theory that St. Mirren laid down to Celtic that day. Even if they did, the destiny of the title was still in Hearts own hands. The Saints could have played Paisley Panda in goal, Chick Young up front and Celtic could have strolled to a 20-0 win – none of that would have mattered if Hearts secured the single point required from Dens Park to bring the league championship to Gorgie for the first time in twenty-six years. I was too distraught on the day to even consider St. Mirren’s role in such a doomsday ending to the season and even now it’s irrelevant. In my view, the Paisley Saints had contributed to Hearts ultimate failure to win the title at the beginning of the season. Two games in and Hearts trip to Love Street was nothing short of horrendous as St. Mirren cruised to a 6-2 victory. This came just a week after Hearts secured a highly creditable 1-1 draw with Celtic at Tynecastle. Paul McStay scored a last minute equaliser that day and that combined with the Love Street debacle seven days later were as much a cause of Hearts not winning the title they deserved as anything else that season.
My disdain for St. Mirren came eleven months on from the events at Dens Park in a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park. 1986/87 was the season of Rangers shock defeat in the third round to Hamilton Academicals at Ibrox Stadium and a sublime John Robertson free-kick at Tynecastle was enough to eliminate Celtic from the cup a month later. With the Old Firm gone the way was clear for Hearts to make up for the huge disappointment of May 1986 by going on to lift the trophy. But they didn’t take into account St. Mirren, their opponents in the semi-final.
I was living in Aberdeen at the time and travelled down to Glasgow with the Granite City Hearts Supporters Club. On the journey south, their ebullient secretary, a great fella by the name of Charlie Brown, was taking names of those who were going to the final. When I suggested to the bold Charlie that he might wish to do this after the game I was ducking under my seat to avoid the scorn and ridicule being hurled towards me. But this is Hearts, I protested. Nothing is certain when it comes to this team of ours. As former Celtic striker Frank McGarvey proved when he scored St. Mirren’s second goal and what proved to be the winner in a truly awful game at the National Stadium. It was a long and silent trip back to the north-east for the Aberdeen Jambos. St. Mirren went on to win the Scottish Cup by defeating the strongly fancied Dundee United in the final, thanks to an extra-time winner from Ian Ferguson. It was the final twist of the knife for Hearts, as they would have qualified for the following season’s UEFA Cup had United won. Another year without silverware and no European football to look forward to. For the second year running the season ended in despair for Hearts supporters.
So Hearts fans dislike of St. Mirren is understandable. And given current form with the Saints enjoying a decent season and Hearts win bonus envelopes remaining locked in a cupboard for several weeks, it would be far from earth-shattering if Gus McPherson’s side inflict more misery on Hearts tomorrow. On the other hand, the return of Valdas Ivanauskas to the fold may provide the spark to re-ignite Hearts season which is now threatening to fizzle out. Either way, those Hearts fans heading to Paisley who are veterans of 1986 will not relinquish their grudge easily…
Mike Smith, Planet Hearts, Friday 1 December 2006
Young was also on BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound programme the other week with a report on the action plan Rangers have instigated in tackling sectarianism among their fans. When a journalist of some quality i.e. Graham Speirs ventured to suggest that it’s the threatened punitive action from UEFA that has spurred the Ibrox club on after years of relative inactivity, Young immediately dismissed this, stating that Rangers signing of former Celtic player Maurice Johnston in 1988 was a huge step towards eradicating the poisonous bile prevalent in the west of Scotland. To which I can merely respond with the Scots phrase where two positives are formed to make a negative – aye, right. The sight of many Rangers fans destroying their season tickets at the doors of Ibrox Stadium eighteen years ago remains a vivid image even now.
The number of Rangers fans gaining entry to Tynecastle these days is less than in previous years due to the fact that Hearts would rather their supporters take the majority of seats in the stadium. But there are still a couple of thousand of Rangers fans in the ground and, if the evidence of last Sunday is anything to go by, Rangers face one hell of a fight to rid themselves of the sectarian element that attaches itself to the club. Chants about the Pope and The Vatican were bellowed out with disgusting frequency and there was even one song about the Ulster Defence Army. Now according to Chick Young and his ilk these may be karaoke favourites but this merely emphasises the ignorance from some people who should know better who either continue to ignore the problem or have given up commenting on it. Having to listen to these dirges was bad enough but surely Hearts supporters have the right to ask why Lothian and Borders’ finest boys and girls in blue took no action against what was so obviously a public order offence on a grand scale? Or did I only imagine the Scottish Executive making the singing of sectarian songs an offence? Will Rangers, as a club, be punished for this? Don’t hold your breath.
Now there may be an argument that says it is practically impossible to eject all the fans involved in this offensive behaviour. If this were enforced you may find those Rangers fans not involved numbered three men and a Union Jack. But in these days of close-circuit television monitoring much of Scotland’s behaviour, surely it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that some of those people, particularly the ringleaders who lead the way with such chanting are arrested. If not at the game then surely in the days that follow? Fans sit in numbered seats; the clubs distributes tickets so tracing offenders should be as easy as finding Saulius Mikoliunas at a Romanov family gathering…
No, it seems that despite the right noises being made from Rangers officials – their Pride over Prejudice campaign deserves everyone’s support – and condemnation from politicians, religious hatred and sectarian behaviour remains a way of life for many who purport to support Rangers. Now Hearts aren’t totally free of this either and it would be hypocritical of me to suggest otherwise – I personally know of one Hearts fan who refuses to go to Tynecastle because he is sick of hearing anti-catholic chanting from some Hearts fans. But these people are in the minority and I’ve been heartened to hear some of these chants being booed and shouted down by the majority of decent Hearts fans. But I can’t help but feel such behaviour is second nature to some Rangers supporters.
In my view Rangers appear no closer to solving the problem despite their good intentions and the threat of further action from UEFA. Drastic action needs to be taken and not just from the club. Why, for example, can’t the police evict those offenders? If I tried to negotiate my way up the steep incline that is the steps of the Wheatfield Stand and looked unsteady as a result of having too many pints of seventy shillings in the pub beforehand you can bet your last pound coin that I’d be having my collar felt by the long arm of the law and shown the exit door quicker than Steven Pressley. So why is nothing done to the rabble who spout their bigotry on a repulsively regular basis?
Something decent Hearts fans ask themselves every time the Old Firm visit town. And we still wait for answers…
Mike Smith, 24 November 2006
It’s an interesting story. A club formed in 1874. An illustrious past and one of the founding members of league football. The leading club in the second largest city in the country in which it plays. A club in decline in recent years with its supporters becoming increasingly disillusioned with vociferous demonstrations for the chairman to go. Now a new owner has taken over. The much-maligned former chairman no longer has his hands on the tiller but still goes to matches. While some clubs’ supporters view multi-million takeovers with suspicion the fans of this club have welcomed their new owner with open arms. They see him as a saviour who has saved the club from the abyss. Optimism has returned to a club that undoubtedly has huge potential. Does all this sound familiar? It should do. But Aston Villa are presently at the stage Heart of Midlothian were a little over a year ago…
This summer saw American business tycoon Randy Lerner successfully complete his takeover of Aston Villa for a figure believed to be around £60m. Outgoing chairman Doug Ellis was a man who was never going be top of the Villa fans’ Christmas Card list, their perception of the 82 year old being that he had overseen a period when Villa went from European Champions in 1982 to a side that has struggled in the FA Premiership since its inception. Lerner’s first objective was to appoint a high profile manager and this he has done with the signing of former Celtic boss Martin O’Neill. The Ulsterman’s impact has been immediate with Villa starting the season impressively and their fans taking great delight at seeing their team near the top of the league for a change. Not since the glory days of the early 1980s have Villa supporters been as optimistic about their team challenging the acknowledged top four in English football. Comparisons between the Birmingham club and Hearts are obvious. But when the honeymoon period ends – and recent heavy defeats to Liverpool and Chelsea were perhaps a reality check the Villa fans didn’t want to see – those at Villa Park may cast an eye towards Tynecastle and note some painful lessons from the Hearts hierarchy.
The joyous optimism currently sweeping the Midlands had also enveloped the west end of Edinburgh at the beginning of season 2005/06. Having saved the club from oblivion, Vladimir Romanov declared lofty ambitions for Hearts and all seemed well as the maroons stormed to the top of the SPL. Too well as it transpired. George Burley left, Graham Rix came and left and Valdas Ivanauskas was left to pick up the pieces – all in the space of six months. Ivanauskas remains on ‘sick leave’ while his successor, Eduard Malofeev, has left apparently to take his UEFA coaching badges. Now we have another former FC Kaunas coach in charge in the shape of Eugenijus Riabovas.
Hearts have become the tabloid journalists dream. Romanov told the fans Hearts would be Champions League winners within five years and, having made it to the qualifying stages for Europe’s premier club competition, Jambos everywhere were starting to ‘believe’ the impossible dream. But speculation about disquiet behind the scenes and the on-going and very public dispute between Romanov and the press has had an unsettling effect. Hearts crashed out of not only the Champions League but also the UEFA Cup within weeks. Unrest among the players came to a head the other week when Steven Pressley, flanked by fellow internationalists Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley, made a statement about low morale and significant unrest among the players in the dressing room. Despite a spirited display at Celtic Park, Hearts lost 2-1 to the league leaders. Four days later, the insipid display by the boys in maroon in the CIS Insurance Cup defeat to Hibernian was quite simply embarrassing.
Like many other Hearts supporters, when I heard the news that Steven Pressley was dropped for the Falkirk game on Monday evening my heart sank. Having interviewed ‘Elvis’ for a book I wrote earlier this year, I know the skipper is a man of integrity whose is as passionate about this club as any supporter. It seems his fate was sealed when he dared to make a statement criticising the way Hearts were run. He would not have issued such a statement without careful thought and consideration about the media frenzy it would create. So clearly things had reached an impasse before the best Hearts captain I’ve ever seen took the decision he did.
It may prove to be a turning point. Pressley has pleaded for stability at the club before and has been ignored. The way Hearts have treated Steven Pressley, George Burley, Phil Anderton, George Foulkes, Graham Rix, Andy Webster and Rudi Skacel is quite frankly contemptible. The club is now a laughing stock. I’ll wager you will get long odds on Pressley, Craig Gordon and Paul Hartley still being at Tynecastle when the January transfer window closes in a few weeks. No doubt Romanov will try to replace Hearts three best players with yet more FC Kaunas players, particularly now as their Head Coach is in charge of team affairs in Gorgie. Well, I use the term ‘in charge’ loosely…
Down in Birmingham, Martin O’Neil is eagerly awaiting the January transfer window so he can spend some of Randy Lerner’s cash and make Aston Villa a force once more. The people now running Villa may well be looking north to Scotland’s capital city and vowing not to make the same catastrophic mistakes as a Russian businessman.
Like many others I had my head turned by the Romanov Revolution. Despite the warnings of many, I didn’t expect the revolution to be so bloody. For the first time I suspect the mood of the fans may be about to turn against Vlad. If it does the outcome may be equally as bloody.
Defeat to Rangers on Sunday will see Hearts slip down the SPL. The decline may prove irreversible.
I suspect I’m not the only one fearing for this once great club of ours…
Mike Smith, 18 November 2006
Here’s a question to ask your pals next time you sup your pre-match pint and give up on trying to predict Hearts starting eleven. Which Scottish club finished third in the league but didn’t qualify for European competition while the clubs that finished fifth and sixth in the league respectively – those jammy beggars Hibernian and Dundee – did? And it’s nothing to do with getting to the Scottish Cup final or the club in question not having a ground suitable for European competition. At the risk of turning into Bob Crampsey, I can tell you the answer is Clyde who finished third in the league at the end of season 1966-67 but were denied their place in the European sun as the bizarre rules of the Fairs Cities Cup – the forerunner to today’s UEFA Cup – meant only one team from one city could enter the competition. And poor Clyde, at that time still playing at Shawfield Stadium in Glasgow, had to watch as second placed Rangers got the place for the ‘dear green place’ while Hibs – whom Clyde had defeated 5-1 in the league - and Dundee represented Scotland’s other cities. Aberdeen had finished the season in fourth place but as they had reached the final of the Scottish Cup they entered the European Cup Winner’s Cup (ask your Dad, younger readers). Champions Celtic entered the European Cup and they’ve kept pretty quiet about how they got on in the 1967 competition…. And there endeth today’s history lesson – but one thing that hasn’t changed much over the years is the bizarre set-up of what is now known as the UEFA Cup.
Hearts demise in this season’s competition at an all too early stage was difficult to accept, particularly as we had high hopes just weeks earlier of actually dining at the top table of European football – the Champions League. Equally difficult to accept was the fact that Hearts conquerors, Sparta Prague, were hardly world beaters, a fact now painfully underlined by the Czech team’s position in Group F, second bottom with no points from their opening two games. Sparta’s latest reverse, a 3-1 defeat in Belgium to Zulte Waregem (a club who have never played in European competition before) only increases the anguish felt by Hearts supporters at our pitiful display in the home leg of our first round defeat to the Czechs. If Hearts had played anywhere near to the level we know they are capable of, then we might have been planning trips to Austria and Spain. Having said all that the present format of the UEFA Cup makes about as much sense as an Eduard Malofeev post match interview.
It’s complicated enough that different numbers of clubs from different countries are eligible, depending on that country’s UEFA co-efficient. But when you also have cup winners, Inter-Toto cup finalists and clubs from UEFA’s Fair Play League then the competition becomes somewhat convoluted. Eighty teams make up the first round – and that’s after what seems like several hundred are eliminated at the preliminary round stages or, in Hibernian’s case, the Inter-Diddy round stage. The rather unfathomable decision to have groups of five teams for the second round and the equally unfathomable decision to have three of these teams qualify for the knock-out stages is mind-boggling. For the third round they are joined by the not quite good enough teams who fall out of the Champions League. Still with me?
It makes one wonder if it’s worth all the hassle. Certainly, Rangers must be wondering if the price for progress in the UEFA Cup is worth seeing their SPL hopes go up in smoke on Guy Fawkes Night. Empty seats at Ibrox come the turn of the year may well provide the answer. Doubtless there will be a committee in UEFA Headquarters who will vehemently defend the new format of the UEFA Cup and say it provides a welcome break from the bread and butter of domestic football. But if a club decides to enter the Inter-Toto Cup as Hibernian did and if they make it to the UEFA Cup proper as Hibernian didn’t, and consequently make it all the way to the final then they are looking at playing possibly twenty UEFA Cup related games throughout the season. And that’s not far off some league campaigns.
Now I would much rather see Hearts still in the UEFA Cup than twiddling their thumbs in midweek. Those of us who were in Bordeaux, Braga and Basle will never forget those occasions. But with the competition shunted to Thursday nights in order that fans can see the real cream of European football clash in the Champions League, it’s little wonder that apathy reigns supreme in Europe’s ‘other’ football competition. And if it affects league form as Rangers and Newcastle United have found to their cost, then clubs may force UEFA’s hand at looking at revamping the competition. Do we really need a group stage for the UEFA Cup? Answers on a postcard to Lennart Johansson, Geneva, Switzerland…
Mike Smith, 10 November 2006
Here at Planet Hearts Towers, we strive to provide the best possible coverage to Hearts supporters about all things maroon. With the eagerly awaited top of the table clash at Celtic Park tomorrow, Planet Hearts has exclusive news on the eve of the big game. A directive, allegedly written on SFA headed notepaper and intended for referee Craig Thomson, has been intercepted by Planet Hearts. I now feel it is my duty to produce in full The Referee’s Guide to Celtic Park, in a style lifted from the Andy Walker School of Journalism…
1) Celtic play in green and white hoops. Don’t be confused by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink appearing to play in green, white and black – that’s just his name on the back of his shirt.
2) Celtic Park is the home of many fine traditions and one of these is that Celtic don’t get beat at home. Therefore any dubious decision in Celtic’s favour is merely your way of upholding this fine and honourable tradition. For handy hints and further advice, please do not hesitate to contact your colleague Ian Brines.
3) Try not to feel too pressurised by fifty thousand screaming Celtic fans. Remember they are just fun-loving Glaswegians who like to enjoy the odd bottle or ten of Buckfast. Rumours about powdered substance in your cup of Bovril at half-time and phone calls to your wife about the young blonde woman who is watching you from the stand today are merely that – rumours.
4) Celtic can not concede free-kicks or penalty kicks as their players are under strict instructions not to kick the opposition (certainly not when you are looking) This maintains the fine spirit of sportsmanship held by Celtic manager Gordon Strachan, a trait he developed as a player everyone loved when he was at Aberdeen twenty years ago.
5) Celtic’s opponents today are Heart of Midlothian. I don’t think we need to add much more other than slightly amend the words of that Norwegian football commentator from a few years ago. Vladimir Romanov. Steven Pressley. Paul Hartley. And others who fight the SFA. Your boys took one hell of a beating.
6) Heart of Midlothian will have similar traits to most other teams visiting Celtic Park – they are liable to give away needless penalty kicks anywhere up to five yards outside the penalty box. You will need to be on your guard and be prepared to do the right thing (remember the tradition)
7) Please remember that extended highlights of this game will be shown on Scotsport and Setanta Television. There is nothing more embarrassing for Archie ‘Woof’ MacPherson or that English chap on the Irish station when they describe a neck high lunge by Neil Lennon as enthusiastic and then you come over and book the player. Before reaching for your card, remember your actions will be shown on television and will be subject to ridicule by the likes of Hugh ‘that’s a rather snide comment’ Keevins.
8) You will be aware that Hearts have had a player sent off every other week thus far this season; Steven Pressley is likely to deny Shaun Maloney a goalscoring opportunity merely by glaring at him. You know what action to take.
9) Please do not be alarmed by the fact that Celtic substitute Derek Riordan carries a lump of horse manure on his person. Being a former player of Hibernian FC, he simply uses this for identification (although his ridiculous hair cut should be enough)
10) The Celtic player Gary Caldwell is another who is a former player of Hibernian FC. When you look to caution him for persistent fouling as was the case when he played in Edinburgh, please remember that a) Caldwell now plays for Celtic, therefore the persistent fouling rule no longer applies and b) as Caldwell plays for Celtic he is now an established Scotland international player. Sending him off means lack of match practice that will affect Walter Smith and the national team and we’ve already booked our five star hotel accommodation for Austria in the summer of 2008.
11) If you enjoy the pre-match build up on radio then you will find the set in your dressing room is pre-tuned to BBC Radio Scotland’s Sportsound programme. Do not re-adjust should you experience what you think is interference – this will only be the sound of the BBC engineer trying to remove Chick Young’s tongue from Gordon Strachan’s rectum.
12) You may experience a high-pitched whining noise throughout the duration of the game. You may initially suspect this is interference in the public address system after endless broadcasts of a song about the Irish potato famine. This is not the case – it will be the constant diatribe aimed at you from Neil Lennon. But as Celtic are playing Hearts the SFA rulebook prevents you from booking the likeable ginger headed lad from Northern Ireland.
13) If all is well and, as expected, Celtic increase their lead at the top of the SPL accordingly, our Chief Executive David Taylor will meet you in the Lisbon Lions Bar after the game for a pint of Guinness.
So there you have it – proof, if proof were needed, that Hearts will find it tough in the east end of Glasgow tomorrow. (that’s enough Referee’s Guide – Ed)
Printed in Planet Hearts, Friday 3 November 2006
It’s typical of my luck. Today Hearts entertain Kilmarnock in their first game on a Saturday since Moses was a boy (well, September 9th ) And the fella who sits next to me at Tynecastle and who has shared my joy and despair at being a Jambo for more years than I care to remember, decides to get married – today. ‘But Gordon’ I pleaded, ‘we’ll miss the Killie game’ His look was one of resignation. ‘Sorry mate – it’s not my shout’. I seem to recall hearing those words before…
It’s indicative of the way things currently are in Scottish football that the more successful you are the less chance you have of playing on what was once the traditional kick-off time of 3.00pm on a Saturday. The SPL’s deal with broadcaster Setanta will soon see some SPL fixtures played on a Monday evening, Hearts trip to Falkirk in mid November being a case in point. Hearts involvement in the UEFA Cup this season may have been brief but this along with the Setanta deal has meant it’s been more a case of When Sunday Comes rather When Saturday Comes for Hearts supporters. Which can prove problematic particularly if fans make arrangements for a game believing it to be on the Saturday only to be inconvenienced when the game is switched for television purposes. Hearts triumph over Aberdeen at Pittodrie last month was sweet but might have been even sweeter for me personally had I not had to fork out an extra £34 for a late First Scotrail train back to Edinburgh (having previously booked a ticket for the 1.50pm GNER service after spending the weekend in the Granite City)
But, for the most part, fans have grown accustomed to Sunday football. In fact both the aforementioned Gordon and myself were keeping our fingers crossed that the people at Setanta would consider switching today’s game for their viewers - this would have enabled us to take our usual place in the Wheatfield Stand (while this would have meant Gordon delaying the start of his honeymoon I’m sure his lovely bride would have understood…)
The Edinburgh derby has now become a fixture rarely played on a Saturday afternoon. This article was written before last Sunday’s game at Easter Road so I’ve got to be careful what I say here, but in years gone by there was no sweeter feeling that watching Hearts gub their neighbours on a Saturday afternoon before heading for a celebratory session in the pub afterwards. Last season’s Scottish Cup semi-final hammering of the Hibees was not only on a Sunday but fifty miles away in deepest Glasgow. Of course this didn’t stop thousands of jubilant Jambos, on their return to the capital, forsaking watching Songs of Praise to head for said hostelries - although many businesses in Edinburgh reported a higher level of sickness absence the day after (honest, guvn’r, I was genuinely ill that day…)
Sunday football has now become accepted in Scottish football – but I’m not so sure about Monday nights. True, one of Hearts greatest ever Scottish Cup victories came on a Monday night in February 1995 when the maroons defeated Rangers 4-2 at Tynecastle in the third round. That fixture was switched to accommodate the needs of SKY Television and Hearts, at the time rebuilding Tynecastle, needed all the money they could get. And a cup-tie against either of the Old Firm will almost always guarantee a sell-out. But fast forward more than eleven years and a league fixture in mid November at Falkirk doesn’t have quite the same appeal. Of course the die-hards will be there and Hearts should be grateful to those fans who seldom miss a game home or away. Their devotion to their club is astonishing. But it’s fair to ask how many Hearts fans will not – or perhaps more importantly cannot – make the trip to Falkirk on a dark, cold Monday night at the onset of winter? It could be worse. We could be Hibs fans (insert your own punch line here) The hapless Hibees face a 250 mile round trip to Aberdeen on a Monday night – how many of them will opt for the cheaper and more convenient option of heading to a pub in Leith?
Now I’ve heard all the somewhat predictable musings from the SPL about how Setanta have paid good money for the right to cover games and how the clubs are grateful for the cash. But surely the bottom line is that the game in this country needs to attract fans to matches – not put even more obstacles in their way?
Of course the fact that Setanta are not providing live coverage of today’s game is a bit of an inconvenience for me so I can’t exactly have it both ways. But I suspect Monday night football may lead to the ‘sold out’ signs being made redundant at SPL grounds across Scotland. And how grateful will our clubs be then?
Mike Smith, 21 October 2006
Thierry Henry. Andriy Shevchenko. Chris Killen. What links those three players? The answer is by this Sunday they should have all have faced, in the space of a week, one of the greatest defenders ever to have played for Hearts – Steven Pressley. And you can be sure Captain Marvellous won’t be treating this weekend’s Edinburgh derby with any less preparation or intensity than those games in quick succession against the world’s leading strikers. For the finest Hearts skipper for a generation knows how much games against Edinburgh’s lesser known team means to the supporters – and you can bet your last penny he’ll have been drumming this into the minds of the likes of Mirsad Beslija, Andrius Velicka and others new to the derby experience when he returned from his sojourn with the Scotland team yesterday.
Hearts may have lain to rest the ghost of 1973 - the infamous 7-0 hammering - when they secured the all-time city bragging rights by hammering the Hibs in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden last April. But they still have something of a score to settle - remarkably, given our record against our neighbours, it’s been nearly four years since Hearts last won a league game at Easter Road. Although the image of Phil Stamp collecting a pass from Neil Janczyk, galloping into the penalty box and thumping the ball into the net in the last minute to give Hearts a 2-1 win in November 2002 is still vivid, nevertheless it’s been too long since the Jambos last won a meaningful game in Leith. And that’s something that needs sorting.
It’s ironic that given the success of the current Hearts team that they’ve been unable – as yet – to add to the memories of some memorable occasions for Hearts supporters at Easter Road. The aforementioned Phil Stamp- whatever happened to him? – became a cult hero when he scored that winner after Hearts had been outplayed for most of the game, although his celebrations with the jubilant Jambos behind the goal earned him a second yellow card from fussy referee Willie Young and the Englishman was the first player to jump into the bath soon afterwards. Given the remarkable transformation in Hearts playing staff over the last couple of years, it will surprise no one to learn that Steven Pressley is the only Hearts survivor of that game – although a young Craig Gordon was the unused goalkeeping substitute.
It was another Englishman who earned immortality with Hearts fans when he scored another late winner at Easter Road in 1994. Wayne Foster’s brilliant finish, slipping the ball through goalkeeper Jim Leighton’s legs and into the net, gave Hearts a famous 2-1 win in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup and gave birth to the song ‘Wayne, Wayne, Super Wayne’ which is still sung by those of the maroon persuasion at derby matches today. It was even sung by hundreds of Hearts fans in Basle a couple of years ago whilst congregating outside Rio’s Bar in the city centre as Swiss beer began to take effect on a chilly November afternoon.
It’s games such as these that enter Tynecastle folklore – an away win in the Scottish Cup against any other team would perhaps merely be another statistic but at the home of Hibernian it means just that little bit more. My personal favourite of Hearts derby wins over the years – leaving aside the Scottish Cup semi-final – was Jim Jefferies team tearing the hapless Hibees apart 4-0 on New Year’s Day 1997. The Hammer of the Hibs, John Robertson, scored his twenty-fifth derby goal that day as the maroons strolled to their biggest win in Leith in thirty-six years. A little over a year later, Hearts lost 2-1 at Easter Road during an April snow shower. But the maroons were a month away from winning the Scottish Cup – and the home team a couple of weeks away from relegation. Hearts fans gleefully singing ‘We’ll Meet Again, Don’t Know Where, Don’t Know When’ as the Hibees disappeared from the top flight of Scottish football was one of those transcendent moments as a Jambo!
In the past six months Hearts have won the Scottish Cup, split the Old Firm and played in Champions League qualifiers. It’s with considerable pride that we watch Hearts players be part of a Scotland team that takes on the World Cup runners-up and beats them at Hampden. High time, then, to put right a statistic that is beginning to stick in the throat a little. Four years without a win at Easter Road. Only two wins there in nearly a decade. That’s something that needs rectifying.
It’s time for the class of 2006 to show their class by taking all three points on Sunday. After a punishing week of international football for most of the Hearts team my concern is that, mentally, it may be a tough ask for the players to break the long streak without a win in Leith. But if anyone can inspire the players to great heights then Steven Pressley can.
My daughter recently moved into a flat a Paul Hartley free-kick away from the away end at Easter Road. How sweet it would be to pay her a visit on Sunday with ‘Can You Hear the Hibees Sing?’ resonating around the neighbourhood!
Mike Smith, 13 October 2006
It promised to be the dawn of a new era. Certainly, after watching their team lift the Scottish Cup and then going on to party in the mother of all parties, Hearts fans watched the World Cup tournament that followed with keen interest. A World Cup that was held in Europe and, inevitably when that happens, was won by a country from Europe. The new domestic campaign kicked off just a few weeks later with Hearts defeating one half of the Old Firm 2-1 at Tynecastle in a game switched to Sunday to accommodate live television. Anticipation was high among the Hearts support. But then the team was affected by injuries, particularly to a highly influential midfield player who starred for both club and country. His absence was sorely felt. Hearts form suffered and the fevered optimism at the beginning of the season was gradually replaced by doom and gloom. Sound familiar? It should do – but I’m not talking about the current derailment of the Hearts Revolution Express. Cast your mind back eight years to when Hearts last won the Scottish Cup and to a remarkably similar start to the season that followed…
When Stephane Adam and Jim Hamilton scored the goals that secured a 2-1 win over Rangers at the beginning of season 1998-99 it was as good as it gets for Hearts fans. Having defeated the Ibrox club in the Scottish Cup final at Celtic Park just three months earlier the feeling among the Gorgie hordes was that Hearts would yet again be challenging the Old Firm, having run Celtic so close for the championship the season before. Then, as eight years later, Rangers had won nothing the previous campaign and had a new foreign manager in place – Dutchman Dick Advocaat. Hearts began the season promisingly but hopes of another league title challenge began to fade when inspirational midfielder Colin Cameron suffered an injury that would keep him out for some time. A European campaign that began with victory over Lantana in the qualifying round of the now defunct European Cup Winner’s Cup ended disappointingly in the first round proper when Hearts lost controversially to Real Mallorca. The controversy raged over the second leg in the Spanish holiday resort when the size of the goalposts appeared to be at odds with UEFA regulations. But Hearts played the game under protest and despite securing a highly creditable 1-1 draw, went out on aggregate having lost the first leg at Tynecastle. Hearts league form then suffered before calamity struck. Neil McCann was transferred to Rangers just before Christmas and defender Davie Weir left for Everton soon after. The deflation felt on the news of McCann’s departure in particular was acute. Hearts then embarked on a run of games in which they could hardly score a goal far less win a game and in March 1999, just ten months after their Scottish Cup triumph, the Jambos slumped to the foot of the Premier League. Astonishingly, relegation beckoned – just as our city neighbours were about to return from their stint in the First Division. But manager Jim Jefferies rallied his troops. He signed Darren Jackson from Celtic, Colin Cameron returned from injury and striker Gary McSwegan eventually located the barn door and having gone weeks without scoring suddenly couldn’t stop. Hearts revived and climbed up the league to safety. But for those who are drawing comparisons with the start to this season and the beginning of season 1998-99 the omens are not good.
Paul Hartley has only recently returned to the Hearts team after missing the beginning of this season due to injury. At the time of writing Hearts are facing an early exit from European competition, having lost the first leg of their UEFA Cup first round tie to Sparta Prague. Hearts league form has been worrying – one point from a possible six from home games against Falkirk and St. Mirren has alarm bells ringing. Rangers – with a new foreign manager in place in the shape of Paul Le Guen – defeated Hearts all too easily at Ibrox a few weeks back and Celtic are already above Hearts in the league. As with the departure of Neil McCann in 1998, the loss of Rudi Skacel has been keenly felt. And a key defender – Andy Webster – has left for a club in the north-west of England.
Now it’s hoped that Hearts form will recover when the likes of Edgaras Jankauskas, Michal Pospisil and Jose Goncalves return from injury. Despite poor league form for much of this season, Hearts are still second top of the SPL. A position that was greeted triumphantly last season. If Hearts get their full squad fit and competing for places then they’re as good as any team in Scotland.
But having been on the roller coaster that is following Hearts for nearly four decades, I’ve been here before and still have several tee shirts to prove it. And if Hearts sell Neil McCann to Rangers just before Christmas, I may well head for a darkened room and not come out. Until someone finds out what Darren Jackson is doing these days…
Mike Smith, 21 September 2006
Scarcely a day goes by without someone in the fourth estate looking to have a pop at Vladimir Romanov, the man who has dared to build a team worthy of the first consistent challenge to the Old Firm in twenty years. Usually the hacks quick to pour scorn on the man who has, to paraphrase, revolutionised Scottish football are from the other side of the world to Edinburgh - if you head east. Already this early in the season there’s been the usual and now expected sanctimonious claptrap from the likes of Hugh Keevins, Andy Walker and Charlie Nicholas, usually in the build-up to a Hearts game against Celtic or Rangers. But this week the latest attack from the press gang has come not from the west of Scotland but from Scotland’s capital city and a once respected journal.
The day after Scotland defeated Lithuania in a qualifying match for the European Championships, The Scotsman’s Alan Pattullo wrote a piece on Vladimir Romanov which, transcribed into gestures, was a two fingered diatribe towards the Russian with the sub-text of nah, nah, nah, nah nah. Pattullo suggested there was a feeling of inferiority in Scotland as the result of Romanov shipping in Lithuanians often at the expense of young Scots. Vlad, Pattullo claimed, had been forced to eat humble pie after his claims of Lithuanian superiority had been proved as fanciful as the World Cup players who were meant to have signed for Hearts before the transfer window closed in August. Pattullo further reasoned that Vlad had been patrolling the streets of Kaunas, photographer in tow, eager to be snapped shaking the hand of any kilted member of the Tartan Army who had descended on Lithuania in considerable numbers (three thousand was one estimate but rumours the Scots were attracted to the Baltic nation by the remarkably cheap alcohol on offer were spurious) The reasoning behind Pattullo’s article was that, after Scotland’s narrow victory, Vlad the Impaler had been sent home to think again.
The article has provoked fury among many Hearts supporters who see the piece as yet more anti-Hearts rhetoric from what was once Scotland’s leading quality newspaper. Personally, I believe it was all a ruse by Pattullo to muscle in on the Jim Traynor method of printing extreme views, no matter how ludicrous they seem, just to provoke a reaction. The dozens of postings on Hearts internet message boards, for instance, suggested that the ruse had worked and underlined that many Hearts fans had taken the trouble to read his views, however eccentric they appeared.
Normally only a hack from the Daily Rantic or Scottish Scum would take Hearts to task about playing Lithuanians rather than Scots. The fact that one of those Lithuanians has a Champions League winner’s medal and another drew huge plaudits for running the defence of the World Champions ragged in Naples last weekend is seemingly lost on Pattullo as is the fact that the spine of the present Scotland team currently ply their trade at Tynecastle while Gary Naysmith and Davie Weir are ex Jambos. It’s perhaps understandable that Pattullo, who allegedly has an allegiance to Hibernian so clearly has troubles other than lacking journalistic credibility, overlooked the fact that Lee Wallace, Calum Elliot and Andrew Driver may well be first choice picks for the Scotland team that attempts to qualify for the next European Championship in 2012.
As for Vladimir Romanov daring to seek publicity by posing for photographs with Scotland supporters, well knock me down with a claymore. After the events of the past eighteen months in Gorgie, it is one viewpoint that Vlad needs all the publicity he can get. Not a viewpoint shared by many – only those who like to fill the pages of their rag with printed attacks on a man who doesn’t shirk responsibilities. For years the Scottish media lamented the fact that there was no challenge to Celtic and Rangers, that the Old Firm would have to move to England for competition or, incredulously, join a ‘North-Atlantic League’ in order to progress. Now Hearts have presented that long-awaited challenge it has suddenly dawned on those who crawl at the feet of Glasgow’s ‘big two’ in order to boost sales that Hearts are not only challenging the establishment but are threatening the livelihoods of those who feed it the publicity it craves.
I’ve criticised Vladimir Romanov before and I still question some of his decisions as I have the right to do in a democratic society. And you only need to consider the lack of support from Hearts for my book about last season to surmise the two are connected. But cheap, lazy shots at the man who has transformed Scottish football are becoming tiresome. Alan Pattullo may have invoked the desired reaction with his article. But, akin to the newspaper he writes for, integrity was like the Lithuanian defence when Christian Dailly scored Scotland’s opening goal in Kaunas – posted missing.
Mike Smith
7 September 2006
Hearts first home league game of season 2006/07 was a pulsating affair that saw the champions of Scotland succumb to the young pretenders to the throne. The game was eagerly anticipated and the second half in particular didn’t disappoint but there was something about the whole occasion which felt, well, a bit different to normal Hearts-Celtic games at Tynecastle (if there is such a thing) The start of the Edinburgh Festival with its cavalcade down Princes Street necessitated traffic diversions that tested the patience of fans heading to the game, particularly those using public transport (note to Lothian Buses – please tell your drivers where they’re supposed to go on such occasions!) and that coupled with a two o’clock kick-off on a Sunday meant a bit of a struggle to make the start of the game.
It was also strange to see Hearts fans occupy part of the Roseburn Stand normally reserved for Celtic supporters. Celtic themselves then added to the almost surreal nature of the day by coming on to the field in black and green stripes. And they had Neil Lennon, a player much revered by Hearts supporters (surely some mistake? – Ed) on the substitute’s bench. Hearts also looked a different and I’m not talking about the new strip. There was no Paul Hartley or Eddie Jankauskas, two mainstays of the Hearts team that achieved such success last season. Even the last minute change of referee from Kenny Clark to Stuart Dougal was somewhat bizarre. But, for me, the main marked difference of the afternoon was atmosphere. Or rather certain elements of it. After years of pretending there wasn’t a problem, the football authorities – mainly U.E.F.A – have threatened clubs with serious consequences if their fans sing sectarian songs at matches. Rangers, for so long blithely ignoring the problem, have at last sprung into action and handed out leaflets to their fans before their home game with Dundee United warning of the consequences of displaying open bigotry at Ibrox. Celtic, too, warned their supporters of the dire penalty if they continue to sing about battles from three hundred years ago. And it seems the majority of supporters, at last, have taken heed of the warnings.
Recent Hearts-Celtic games have been poisoned by sectarian bile which has no place in a devolved 21st century Scotland. Yet at Tynecastle three weeks ago I only heard a smattering of Celtic songs relating to religion and when some Hearts fans began retorting with ‘Hello, Hello’ they were shouted down by the vast majority of decent fans who are sick and tired of having their club associated with such nonsense. Mostly our Glasgow rivals resorted to jibes of ‘Champions League – yer havin’ a larf’ and songs of loyalty (no pun intended) to their team. The most vociferous of songs from the home support alluded to the fact that Hearts were going to Europe and were having a party while a certain minor club from across the capital city had retired early to bed for the day. Good natured banter is an essential element of the game and this helps adds to the atmosphere which is always that bit more special against the Old Firm. And it was a pleasant surprise to hear very little of the usual sectarian nonsense that it too often too prevalent at these games.
Now no one is naive enough to think that decades of hatred is suddenly going to disappear overnight and that supporters of Celtic and Hearts will shake hands after the game and head for a friendly pint in the hostelries of Gorgie. But, thanks to the oft much-maligned U.E.F.A. and the clubs themselves – Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson was even on the official Hearts website the other week warning fans - the now strenuous efforts being put in to try and eradicate such behaviour means there is at last some tangible progress being made. Some supporters have been brought up on such hatred ideals but a start has to be made at some point. With Celtic and Rangers now being joined by Hearts in the challenge for honours, now seems as good a time as any. There will be a not so silent minority who will continue to chant sectarian abuse and hide behind their Red Hand of Ulster flags and Irish Tricolours. But it seems the majority of decent fans are now keen to seize back the power. Anyone at Tynecastle tempted to chant about being up to their knees in blood is likely to have the contempt and disgust of the majority of Hearts fans aimed towards them – as well the imposing figure of Lothian and Border’s finest bearing down.
Scottish football is changing. The Old Firm no longer have things their own way. And, at last, neither do those supporters who are unashamed to promote their religious hatred to anyone who cares to listen. An audience that, thankfully, is starting to diminish.
Mike Smith
19 August 2006
Something memorable occurred on Saturday May 13th 2006. Yes, Hearts won the Scottish Cup for the second time in eight years. Hearts fans had a party – the Hibs went to their beds. It was another weekend to remember in an astonishing past decade for Hearts supporters. But there was cause for celebration a few hours before Steven Pressley gleefully held aloft the famous old trophy. Scotland secured a goalless draw in Japan which, days after thrashing Bulgaria 5-1, was enough to secure the Kirin Cup in the Far East. Hearts and Scotland both winning a trophy on the same day – small wonder many of us wakened up the following day, hung over and wondering if the previous twenty-four hours had been a dream. A few weeks later, Scotland’s under 19 team defy all the odds by recovering from a 4-0 thrashing from Spain in the group stages to run the same team so close in the European Championship Final. Inspired by the likes of Hearts Calum Elliot and Lee Wallace, the Scots do their country proud and while the Spaniards edged home 2-1 to take the title, suddenly the future of the game in this country looks brighter than at any time in the past twenty years.
It’s surely no coincidence that this emerging state of affairs comes at a time when many of Scotland’s leading clubs have suddenly found there is no bottomless pit when it comes to paying large sums of money for overrated players from foreign shores. The opening day of the 2006/07 SPL campaign saw a larger than expected number of young Scots playing for the top clubs in the league. The team that surprised me most was Rangers. Under new manager Paul Le Guen, I expected the much-heralded French revolution to have a bearing on the Rangers line-up. But the Gers side that took the field at Motherwell included young Scots Alan Hutton, Steven Smith and Charlie Adam. They also have the likes of Kris Boyd and Chris Burke as first team regulars. Celtic included four Scots in their opening win over Kilmarnock with former Hibees Gary Caldwell and Kenny Miller joined by Mark Wilson and Stephen McManus. Other clubs such as Hibernian and Aberdeen are now predominately Scots as the days of rearing homegrown talent and giving them a real chance in the first team seem to have returned. Not since the early 1980s have so many young Scots been given such a chance by the leading clubs. But what about Hearts I hear you ask? Vladimir Romanov has funded a Lithuanian revolution with the likes of Eddie Jankauskas, Deividas Cesnauskis and Saulius Mikoliunas regulars in the first team – some would say at the expense of Scottish players. But Hearts have done as much if not more to promote young Scots players than any other club in this country. The backbone of the current Scotland team has its base at Tynecastle. Craig Gordon is developing into the one of the finest goalkeepers ever seen in this country – he’s pretty close to being the best Hearts goalie I’ve seen in nearly forty years. Steven Pressley is the rock of the Scotland defence while Paul Hartley has ignited the Scotland midfield with some sparkling displays. Fit again Neil McCann will surely be a serious consideration for the forthcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers while the immense displays of Robbie Neilson haven’t escaped the notice of national coach Walter Smith who has called the full back up for Scotland’s next get together a few days from now.
The news that Lee Wallace had joined his teammate Calum Elliot in pledging his long-term future to Hearts is evidence enough that the Scottish Cup winners are committed to nurturing young Scottish talent. Hearts have demonstrated that they can have the best of both worlds by bringing in imports – but the foreign players coming to Gorgie are, for the most part, quality additions. Jankauskas has won the Champions League with FC Porto; Takis Fyssas has won the European Championship with Greece. No one can say that kind of quality can’t enhance the young Scottish talent already at the club.
Scotland face a formidable task in the Euro 2008 qualifiers with the world champions and runners-up along with the powerful force that is Ukraine standing between Walter Smith’s men and what would be an incredible achievement. The next major championship may be a tournament too far for the young Scots. But the 2010 World Cup in South Africa may be the event for Scotland to re-enter the world stage. With Scotland’s major clubs now promoting young home grown talent into their first teams, there is cause for real optimism for the first time in many years.
Not since 1998 have Scotland graced a major tournament – the youngsters who did their country so proud in Poland the other week may be prominent in changing that.
Mike Smith. 12 August 2006
It’s only four weeks since the World Cup Final but at the risk of sounding parochial I’m glad to be back at Tynecastle. Germany 2006 was touted as a feast of football, the world’s finest players (and England) gathering to provide a sporting extravaganza that promised to be the best finals ever. What we did get, in my view, was a disappointing, flat, quite often negative tournament in which many of the leading players looked tired and wishing they were lying on a sun-kissed beach somewhere – anywhere but trying to reach the peak of performance in the baking heat of Germany. Worse still, the World Cup of 2006 will be remembered for the cheating antics of some players of whom we expected to display an abundance of skill but who spent too much time resorting to get their opponents sent off. And of those who weren’t guilty of cheating, the display of brutality by the likes of Wayne Rooney and Zinedane Zidane made one pine for the days when truly gifted players such as Pele and Eusebio were the epitome of sportsmanship.
The infamous Portugal-Netherlands game was, perhaps, the nadir of the tournament. Sixteen yellow cards and four red cards was, not surprisingly, a record haul for indiscipline in a World Cup match. The Russian referee was heavily criticised (including a remark from Sepp Blatter who said even the referee should have had a yellow card) but the blame for this fiasco lies with the players. At times the football was secondary as players from both countries thought it more productive to get opponents sent off. Cheating was prominent throughout the tournament with players acting with imaginary cards in a shameful attempt to try to tell referees what they should be doing. This has been a recent disturbing development in the game as well as kicking the ball out of play when one of your own players is seemingly injured – the expectation being that your opponents will give you the ball straight back again when play resumes. This seems to be a cynical way out if your opponents look like they have a half decent chance to score. While there were some plus points from the World Cup – the Germany-Italy semi-final was, perhaps, on of the finest goalless draws ever played at that level – it’s the more unfortunate traits which, sadly, were prominent. This is a sad indictment on the game and when you also consider the corruption saga from Italy where champions Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina were all demoted from Serie A due to fraudulent behaviour from their officials, perhaps we should be thankful for what we have in Scottish football.
There will be games this season when we will head for the pub for the post match post-mortem having seen our heroes perform poorly and, using our expert knowledge of the game, will only be too keen to advise Valdas Ivanauskas where he went wrong. The standard of refereeing in Scotland will be the subject of great debate as we pine for the days of Hugh Dallas, Willie Young et al (despite the fact they got much abuse from just about every ground in the country when they were at the height of their officialdom) And, despite being in a group that includes Italy, France and the Ukraine, Scotland will no doubt be subject to crisis headlines when they begin their Euro 2008 qualification next month. But when all that is the subject of intense scrutiny in the dark winter months, perhaps we should remember the events of the summer.
The game in this country is, unlike in Italy and who knows where else, honest even if we do regularly question the decisions of officials as we are free to do so in a democratic society (I have my own thoughts about the S.F.A. but these are for another day!) While there are some players in Scottish football who have a penchant for diving for illegal gain – and former Jambo Rudi Skacel was accused on more than one occasion last term of diving - the problem here is nowhere near as severe as elsewhere in the world if the 2006 World Cup is anything to go by. And Scottish teams generally try to entertain and win games as opposed to doing anything they can in order not to lose. Hopefully Hearts will once again provide the main challenge to Celtic and Rangers; the rise and rise of Gretna should continue to prove that nothing is impossible if you believe it can happen; the emergence of young Scottish talent such as Calum Elliot and Lee Wallace, who were part of the Scotland Under 19 team that reached the final of this summer’s European Championships indicates the game isn’t quite at death’s door.
Scottish football still has a lot going for it. Honesty, integrity and hope for a start – something that, sadly, wasn’t much in evidence in Germany this summer…
Mike Smith, 5 August 2006
It was almost a surreal experience. It was early evening, the sun was still shining and the heat was stifling. Normally at this time of the year pre-season friendlies are the norm and while many of us grudge paying even reduced prices for admission to see what is effectively training matches, we still amble along full of optimism for the season ahead. Cold turkey for the avid football fan is June and most of July when there’s only so much of Andy Murray, Tiger Woods and Clive Tyldesley’s arrogant English spoutings you can take. But last Wednesday I was part of Hearts biggest home attendance at a European tie for forty-six years. And I wasn’t heading for my usual seat in the Wheatfield Stand at Tynecastle. I was joining 28,485 other shirt-sleeved football aficionados heading for Murrayfield, the home of Scottish rugby. Not for your run-of-the-mill friendly against Charlton Athletics’ reserve team. No, this was Champions League football. Or the European Cup as I still prefer to call it. And the last time Hearts were in the European Cup, I wasn’t even born (although rumour has it that Big Al and Ichabod managed to finish work early for the game with Benfica at Tynecastle in 1960….) But for me the strangest part of the night was, ironically, something that should be the norm for any football game. After praising the contributions of Robbie Neilson, Deividas Cesnauskis and Christophe Berra, I left Murrayfield singing the praises of another fella who was on the field that night and who had a near flawless game – Norwegian referee Espen Berntsen.
It’s become almost the norm now that Hearts fans – with justification – hurl abuse at the referee after another SPL game that has more than its share of controversial refereeing decisions. From where I was sitting at Murrayfield the other night, barely a harsh word was aimed at Mr. Bernsten. In my view he let the game flow freely and called most, if not all, of his decisions correctly. He booked a Brijeg player for deliberately handling the ball, which is what should happen according to the rules of the game. Generally, he treated both sets of players with respect and didn’t fuss and draw attention to himself. He knew the big crowd hadn’t come along to see him and was prepared to let the game run as smoothly as possible without the need to court controversy. Which led me to think on the way home – which Scottish referee would have handled the game in such a way?
Contentious refereeing decisions were never far away from Hearts last season. The most controversial was on New Years Day when Ian Brines sent off Takis Fyssas for a quite superb tackle on Celtic’s Shaun Maloney. Ten man Hearts then saw a 2-1 lead turned into a 3-2 defeat – and their league championship hopes effectively ended. In the Scottish Cup final, Dougie Macdonald – allegedly with feelings for Hibernian – denied Hearts a stonewall penalty towards the end of extra-time when Rudi Skacel was fouled by Gretna goalkeeper Alan Main. Of course Hearts won the cup after a penalty shoot-out but that decision by Mr. Macdonald could have had massive ramifications for Hearts. There were many more refereeing decisions that beggared belief last season, to the extent that almost every other week we left Tynecastle muttering that so-and-so was the worst referee in Scotland. Now Hearts are in Europe and it takes a referee from Norway to show the hapless officials in this country how it’s done.
As the new SPL season gets ready to kick off, you can guarantee that referees will hog the limelight once more with their almost frightening levels of incompetence. I’m not alone among Hearts fans who believe that the SFA have issued a directive to the whistlers not to give Hearts the benefit of the doubt in any fifty-fifty decision. In my view, the Fyssas incident on New Year’s Day was a blatant example of that. But while there may be a more sinister element to some of the decisions affecting Hearts, other clubs have been dogged by sheer ineptitude. Meanwhile the suits at Hampden Park sit in their plush offices convinced that the referees in Scotland are among the best in the world. That’ll be why none of them were at the World Cup Finals in Germany then. They continue to bury their heads in the sand while referee after referee struggles to control games throughout the country. Assistant referees – linesmen to you and me – are of little help to the beleaguered man in the middle. How often do you see a linesman wait for the referee to decide which side should get the throw-in when the ball goes out of play? They are there to assist – not limply go along with whatever the referee says.
As another league campaign begins, I sincerely hope I’m proved wrong and that Scottish referees prove to be men of substance this season. But like the ref who will look at Saulius Mikoliunas being felled in the penalty box and think about giving a penalty – somehow, I doubt it.
Mike Smith, July 2006
It’s only two weeks since the World Cup Final but at the risk of sounding parochial I’ll glad to be back at Tynecastle. Germany 2006 was touted as a feast of football, the world’s finest players (and England) gathering to provide a sporting extravaganza that promised to be the best finals ever. What we did get, in my view, was a disappointing, flat, quite often negative tournament in which many of the leading players looked tired and wishing they were lying on a sun-kissed beach somewhere – anywhere but trying to reach the peak of performance in the baking heat of Germany. Worse still, the World Cup of 2006 will be remembered for the cheating antics of some players of whom we expected to display an abundance of skill but who spent too much time resorting to get their opponents sent off. And of those who weren’t guilty of cheating, the display of brutality by the likes of Wayne Rooney and Zinedane Zidane made one pine for the days when truly gifted players such as Pele and Eusebio were the epitome of sportsmanship.
The infamous Portugal-Netherlands game was, perhaps, the nadir of the tournament. Sixteen yellow cards and four red cards was, not surprisingly, a record haul for indiscipline in a World Cup match. The Russian referee was heavily criticised (including a remark from Sepp Blatter who said even the referee should have had a yellow card) but the blame for this fiasco lies with the players. At times the football was secondary as players from both countries thought it more productive to get opponents sent off. Cheating was prominent throughout the tournament with players acting with imaginary cards in a shameful attempt to try to tell referees what they should be doing. This has been a recent disturbing development in the game as well as kicking the ball out of play when one of your own players is seemingly injured – the expectation being that your opponents will give you the ball straight back again when play resumes. This seems to be a cynical way out if your opponents look like they have a half decent chance to score. While there were some plus points from the World Cup – the Germany-Italy semi-final was, perhaps, on of the finest goalless draws ever played at that level – it’s the more unfortunate traits which, sadly, were prominent. This is a sad indictment on the game and when you also consider the corruption saga from Italy where champions Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina were all demoted from Serie A due to fraudulent behaviour from their officials, perhaps we should be thankful for what we have in Scottish football.
There will be games this season when we will head for the pub for the post match post-mortem having seen our heroes perform poorly and, in using our expert knowledge of the game, will only be too keen to advise Valdas Ivanauskas where he went wrong. The standard of refereeing in Scotland will be the subject of great debate as we pine for the days of Hugh Dallas, Willie Young et al (despite the fact they got dogs abuse from just about every ground in the country when they were at the height of their officialdom) And, despite being a group that includes Italy, France and the Ukraine, Scotland will no doubt be subject to crisis headlines when they begin their Euro 2008 qualification next month. But when all that is the subject of intense scrutiny in the dark winter months, perhaps we should remember the events of the summer.
The game in this country is, unlike in Italy and who knows where else, honest. We may regularly question the decisions of officials as we are free to do so in a democratic society but the people who run Scottish football are nothing if not hard working and honest people of integrity. While there are some players in Scottish football who have a penchant for diving for illegal gain – and former Jambo Rudi Skacel was accused on more than one occasion last term of diving - the problem here is nowhere near as severe as elsewhere in the world if the 2006 World Cup is anything to go by. And Scottish teams generally try to entertain and win games as opposed to doing anything they can in order not to lose. Hopefully Hearts will once again provide the main challenge to Celtic and Rangers; the rise and rise of Gretna should continue to prove that nothing is impossible if you believe it can happen; the emergence of young Scottish talent such as Calum Elliot, who was part of the Scotland Under 19 team at this summer’s European Championships indicates the game isn’t quite at death’s door.
Scottish football still has a lot going for it. Honesty, integrity and hope for a start – something that, sadly, wasn’t much in evidence in Germany this summer…
Mike Smith, 23 July 2006
I wrote last season over the irony that, twenty years to the day that Hearts supporters were devastated to finish in second place in the Premier Division following eight heartbreaking minutes at Dens Park in 1986, there were unprecedented scenes of celebration at Tynecastle as Hearts defeated Aberdeen 1-0 to secure second place in the SPL at the end of season 2005/06. Two wildly contrasting emotions two decades apart over achieving second place in the league. Why the difference? Money, of course. And potentially lots of it. The golden carrot that is a place in the Champions League will dangle before Hearts before this summer is over. Should they negotiate two qualifying rounds then the financial reward could be as much as £10m – an amount former Chief Executive Chris Robinson could only gawp at two years ago. Chelsea, of course, are already in the Champions League group stages but their endless pot of roubles continues to change the shape of English football. Most other chairmen would have baulked at forking out £30m for a player who will celebrate his thirtieth birthday just weeks into the new season. Michael Ballack will also celebrate his thirtieth birthday, three days before his new Russian team-mate and while Chelsea paid no fee the fact that the German will receive a £20m salary over three years tells you that ‘Chelski’ now pay with Monopoly money. Bearing this in mind, one has to ask if Hearts do make it to the group stages of the Champions League then what real chance do they have of progression if faced with such financially extravagant opposition?
Silly money is now paid to top footballers and to help pay for this admission prices have reached the stage where they are beyond the reach of many working class football fans, the people who have put the game where it is today. The price of watching football escalated in the early 1990s in the aftermath of the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 as the top clubs were forced to rebuild their ailing grounds. Fans were literally forced to pay the price but this proved the building blocks to constant increases as much needed revenue from satellite television coverage transformed the game from the representation of the working classes to the plaything of the middle and, in corporate hospitality boxes, upper classes. How many Hearts fans who couldn’t afford to fork out hundreds of pounds on a season ticket were denied the chance to go to the Scottish Cup Final? And this after Hearts were allocated nearly twice the amount of tickets that would sell out Tynecastle? To watch Hearts regularly next season you will need to buy a season ticket. Fifteen years ago this was unthinkable. Big money has changed the game so people many love - and an increasing number of these people are now priced out of the game. Some may argue that this is exactly what the big money people now exerting such huge influence in the game want; the working class are perceived to carry too much baggage such as hooliganism, so prevalent in decades gone by. Football is now big business and therefore feels the need to attract a more upper class mentality – ‘fans’ who will not only behave accordingly but also think nothing of parting with hundreds of pounds to do so.
Football was born out of a sense of belonging to its community. The majority of Hearts fans follow the team because they have always done so. What else binds community spirit both in joy and despair the way football clubs do? Having suffered anguish for so long, Hearts fans are entitled to bask in the glow of the success of the current side. But I worry that with Hearts now so tantalisingly close to European football’s top table, that the club is looking to ‘move to the next level’ – which is money men speak for let’s capitalise on our success and leave those who can’t afford to come with us behind. With Hearts almost certain to create a waiting list for fans wanting a season ticket the chances of your average supporter who can only afford to go to a few games each season actually getting the opportunity to do so seems to be getting smaller each year. This may fit in with the corporate philosophy of football’s image these days – but it is also driving away many people who still care passionately about their clubs but can no longer afford to demonstrate that passion by actually being there.
If this is the price to pay for Hearts’ – and football in general - new social standing then it’s a price the game may well regret paying in the not too distant future.
Mike Smith, June 2006
I was just seven years old when my parents went their separate ways towards the end of 1969. Traumatic though that was, I was perhaps too young to fully appreciate the implications of that life changing decision. My first true feelings of desperation came a little over three years later on New Years Day 1973 when I first spilt tears at a football game – Hearts 0 Hibernian 7 is something supporters of Edinburgh’s lesser team still live off thirty three years later. Hearts relegation in 1977 and the slipping away of the league title in eight devastating minutes at Dens Park in 1986 are other traumas that have, rightly or wrongly, left mental scars that never totally heal but simply fade over time. Similarly the sudden and unexpected death of my father in 1997 was something I struggled to come to terms with. That this is bracketed with events on a football field is something my family simply can’t comprehend - but, like them, following Hearts is a major part of my life and however much this makes me clinically unstable my well-being is shaped by events at Tynecastle.
The incredible season of 2005/06 has helped to do the job of any psychologist worth their salt – it has ‘put to bed’ two ordeals that have remained in my subconscious for years, even decades. The aforementioned 7-0 drubbing from Hibernian was like a bad traffic accident – it was painful to witness but you couldn’t help stand and watch, helpless and numb to the bone. I was nearly two months away from my eleventh birthday but my pleas to my father to take me home at half time fell on deaf ears. I shut tight my tear-drenched eyes when the seventh goal went in. Nowadays there are child protection laws to deal with such issues. On several occasions since, Hearts have hammered the wee team to the extent that I have urged them to go on and score seven goals but sadly this has still to be achieved. But at Hampden Park last month the trauma of ’73 was finally laid to rest when Hearts thrashed the hapless Hibees in the biggest Edinburgh derby for over a century. As Inspector Jambo memorably put it that Scottish Cup semi-final triumph pisses on the 7-0 game!
Similarly it was entirely fitting that Hearts first ever qualification for the U.E.F.A. Champions League should be clinched on May 3rd, a date forever associated with the tearful scenes at Dens Park, Dundee in 1986. Such is the influence of the money men in football nowadays that it’s dripping in irony that, twenty years ago, Hearts fans were devastated at finishing in second place in the Premier Division. Now it is looked at as an achievement on a par with winning a trophy – indeed Chairman Roman Romanov indicated a few weeks ago that if he were forced to make a choice he would take qualification for the Champions League over a Scottish Cup triumph. For a club that has won just one major trophy in over four decades that was quite a statement but perhaps says it all about the game today. Nevertheless, Hearts fans will now remember May 3rd for possibly the most emotional occasion ever seen at Tynecastle. When Paul Hartley scored with that penalty kick to secure victory over Aberdeen I felt myself biting my lower lip – my team was about to create history and those of us there were a major part of this experience.
Of course Hearts will have to negotiate two qualifying rounds if they are to take their place at Europe’s top footballing table. The third qualifying round in particular will prove difficult in the extreme – potential opponents at the time of writing are Inter Milan, Benfica, Werder Bremen, Liverpool/Manchester United among many others. But the very fact Hearts are looking at these clubs as potential opponents in Europe’s premier football competition is an indicator of the astonishing road Hearts have embarked on in the last eighteen months. Had they taken a wrong turning when Chris Robinson declared Tynecastle was to be sold the summer before last, the road Hearts would now be well down is the one to oblivion. Tynecastle would by now be luxury housing (can you even imagine that?) and Hearts would be bottom six material playing in front of sixty thousand empty seats at the home of Scottish rugby every other week.
But Hearts chose Romanov over Murrayfield. I feared for the club when Vlad sacked George Burley and Phil Anderton within a fortnight and I questioned his judgement in appointing Graham Rix. But the Russian has been big enough to admit that removing Burley and appointing Rix were major mistakes. Hearts no longer fear cup semi-finals and last day scenarios. Romanov wants Hearts to reach for the stars. And so far, despite his methods, he has been true to his word. He promised Hearts would split the Old Firm. He promised Hearts would remain at Tynecastle. And he promised Hearts fans Champions League football.
Of course none of this means anything to the infamous Mrs Smith who selfishly wants another bloody holiday at the beginning of July. But my Champions League budget is already up and running. Hearts fans are already looking forward to next season. The demons of 1973, 1977, 1986 and the rest have been exorcised. Damn it, I’m even reasonably confident Hearts will do well again which, if you’ve noticed some of my predictions in the JNet prediction league may come as something of a shock. The only downside I can see is if Hearts continue to contribute to my general well being next season I may start being nice to the missus. And after twenty five years of wailing and grinding of teeth because of this bloody team of mine, Mrs Smith may get a tad suspicious. But the anticipation for the year ahead is huge. Vladimir Romanov has not only taken Hearts as a club to the crossroads to the Promised Land – emotionally battered Jambos are there too!
Mike Smith, 7 May 2006
Hearts – Diary of an Incredible Season will be in most good bookshops at the beginning of June.
We're fast approaching the end of a memorable season and doubtless there will still be a few twists and turns left of an incredible campaign. In just a couple of weeks Hearts will bring the curtain down on an astonishing ten months with - we hope - a Scottish Cup triumph over Gretna at Hampden Park. Now Hearts supporters are the last people to ever count chickens and in the current climate of threatening bird flu we certainly won't be doing so now. But if things go to plan there will be a few days celebrating before the cold realisation that there will be no more football in Scotland until August. True, this year there is the World Cup in Germany to look forward to but it's not quite the same without Scotland's presence. At least when Hearts won the Scottish Cup in 1998 we had the prospect of Scotland playing Brazil in the opening game of France '98 to look forward to once the hangovers had died down. This year, other than root for Trinidad and Tobago and hope for a half decent World Cup tournament, there's nothing to get really excited about. Of course the further England progress the more unbearable the national i.e. English press will become until the team's likely elimination in a penalty shoot-out (I wonder what David Batty and Chris Waddle are doing these days?) A long and not so hot summer will ensue. The question is - how will the dyed in the wool Hearts fan cope without their daily diet from the 'Tynecastle House'?
The infamous Mrs Smith has already compiled a list of tasks as long as a queue of Hibernian fans leaving a cup semi-final with ten minutes to go awaiting this downtrodden Jambo. A new garden fence, a new kitchen, a splash of paint for the spare bedroom...these are just some of the things that have been neglected since last July. Her anger at my dereliction of duty intensified on being told that, now that Hearts have qualified for European competition next season, the budget for our week in the sun in July has been transferred to the Smith family Hearts European Adventure Budget. Something she's not party to, obviously.
To try and compensate for this, I shall be traipsing around sampling the delights of various DIY stores, paint shops and the dreaded Swedish furniture store out at Straiton in a doomed bid to appease my good lady - and this fills me with dread. For three months there will be no sampling the delights of a pint of seventy shillings in the Station Tavern on a Saturday lunchtime; no anticipation of heading along Gorgie Road to enjoy Paul Hartley and co. destroy another defence; no cursing the fact that I'm not even within fifty thousand of the winning number of the half-time draw ticket. There will be no post match analysis in The Diggers after the game; no tuning into BBC Radio Scotland and ridiculing Chick Young and no looking at the SPL table to see how far behind Hearts Edinburgh's wee team are.
Instead, when the World Cup is not on offer, I shall be studiously trying to avoid England's cricket team trying to avoid defeat to Sri Lanka, the ridiculous Wimbledon hype which has now transferred from Tim Henman to Andy Murray, the seemingly endless athletics meetings that are covered by the BBC and the Open Golf Championship after Colin Montgomerie's inevitable demise. You can usually gauge how much of a summer sports fan someone is when the highlight of June is when the SPL issues the fixtures for the forthcoming season. Hibernian at Easter Road in August eh? Brilliant, that's only eight weeks away...Even the first round draw of the much-maligned CIS Insurance Cup is something worth looking at compared to a lot of 'new balls' at SW19..
Hearts fans spent much of last summer wondering who was going to be Hearts new Head Coach for the new season following the departure of John Robertson. Hearts left it late before announcing it would be George Burley. I suspect we're in for another summer of guessing games, which will please the Scottish redtop papers desperate to fill their pages with football news. Tennis, athletics, cricket and golf just don't have the same impact.
I know how they feel - roll on August!
Mike Smith
27 April 2006
However, the game and the society in which it thrives on has changed markedly in the half century that has elapsed. The topical debate as we approach the end of the incredible 2005/06 season is how to tackle, if you’ll excuse the pun, those players who dive in the modern game. The finger of the media and some fans has been pointed most recently at Rudi Skacel and while the Czech Republic star does occasionally fall to the ground, what is often ignored is the crude challenge from his opponent which precedes it. There seems to be a view from some hacks and the occasional Friday night television pundit that this has become more prevalent since Johnny Foreigner arrived in the SPL in growing numbers. Skacel’s compatriot Roman Bednar was sent off in the Scottish Cup tie against Partick Thistle after receiving a second yellow card for allegedly diving in a bid to win a penalty kick. The Aberdeen manager Jimmy Calderwood, never short of things to say about other clubs affairs, said he was glad some of Hearts Scottish lads had had a word with their foreign counterparts. The insinuation is that homegrown players don’t resort to such gamesmanship but we all know this simply isn’t true. Diving to try and gain an advantage is, sadly, part of the game in the 21st century and something that the class of 1956 will undoubtedly frown upon.
Players such as the King of Hearts, Willie Bauld or the Prince of Hearts, Alex Young possessed so much class and ability they didn’t need to take a dive. If some of today’s players tumble at the mere thought of a Steven Pressley tackle, one wonders how they would have reacted to the likes of Dave Mackay, Tam McKenzie and Freddie Glidden bearing down on them. As the song goes, Hearts defence of the 1950s was as strong as the old castle rock but the players of that era could play their way out of trouble as well.
One also wonders how the legendary Hearts team of the 1950s would react if one of their opponents ran to the referee in order to persuade the official to book them. This is another annoying trend that has also evolved recently where some players display a hitherto unknown degree of pace to chase the referee, waving an imaginary card in front of his nose. It’s impossible even to imagine a player such as Iron Man John Cumming – who left the field during the 1956 cup triumph with blood pouring from a head wound only to return a short while later to lead his team to glory – reacting in such a manner. Nowadays players receiving head knocks are often ruled out of action for three weeks afterwards because of the effe