If Rangers are in a mess then Hearts are WORSE and blame is on board who have sat on their hands – Ryan Stevenson
The Jambos are 11 points behind Aberdeen after just four games and with the pressure on boss Steven Naismith
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If ever there was a season where the Old Firm look like they could be split then this is it as Rangers look bang average.
But as much as it pains me to say it, if the Ibrox club are in a mess then Hearts are even worse. And the blame has to go right to the top of the club – to the board who have sat on their hands when there were glaring issues needing addressed.
My old club are miles off it right now and it looks like even Aberdeen will end up running away from them in the race for third – if not second ahead of Rangers. The Dons are already 11 points clear after four games and that is a serious worry. If Hearts finish fourth it’s a complete failure. What an example Aberdeen is because they lost their main striker, their talisman, Bojan Miovski, and it’s barely been noticed.
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They made the right signings, they have made a good appointment as manager and things are looking really rosy at Pittodrie as opposed to the dark clouds gathering over Tynecastle.
Aberdeen made a fortune on Miovski and went out and replaced him with Kevin Nisbet who scored that late winner against Ross County at the weekend just a day before Hearts drew yet another blank in their defeat to Dundee United.
We’re told Hearts were interested in Nisbet too but Aberdeen were already ahead of them in the process of signing the player. That’s just bad management. This runs deeper than just the manager although Steven Naismith is now rightly under serious, serious pressure.
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This falls on the board. I’m not surprised Hearts find themselves in this situation just three months after finishing third at a canter. Why? Because as I have said a million times – they had one guy last season keeping them ahead of the rest in the race for third. Lawrence Shankland.
But they have never addressed the situation of getting Lawrence help. Nisbet or someone of his ilk should have been brought in months ago. Joe Savage headed up recruitment but the club knew he was leaving his role as sporting director for a while.
The board never acted to get someone in as a replacement – they kicked the can down the road because they thought everything was going well.
Why did they not transition someone in? Someone should have been there getting a feel for things before the transfer window opened nearly three months ago. There should have been a seamless handover. That’s just good business.
Clubs are at their most vulnerable when they are doing well and Hearts were massively vulnerable last season even though they finished third.
Hearts fans leave early against Dundee United
You could see the cracks – the Rangers games at Ibrox and at Hampden showed they were still way off the top two. Now, because they’re not playing well on the pitch, it’s shining a light on the frailties off the pitch.
The decision to hand Naismith a new contract after one game this season looks increasingly bizarre by the week. It would be nice to hear what the board are thinking during the international break.
One thing’s for sure – the fans are not having Naismith any more. The reaction at full-time in Thursday’s defeat to Plzen was bad. Sunday was 10 times worse. It was toxic. No wonder after a serious of powderpuff performances that have produced just two goals in seven games.
Are the board battening down the hatches? Or are they buying time to try and get a replacement in during this international break? I don’t think so. But it would be nice to hear from them.
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The picture doesn’t get any brighter for Naisy with a trip to Celtic Park up next. A battering off the champions who look like they are hitting next level right now would be unthinkable. Yet right now it’s very possible.
Would the manager survive that? He and the players have to give the fans something and quick.
You could sense the punters were desperate to react to something, anything, especially against Plzen. The best they got was Cammy Devlin chasing back 50 yards to put in a strong tackle. That should be par for the course. Give that support a little and they will give you a lot in return.
But right now, across the board, they’re not giving them anything and the home performances have been painful to watch. Hearts need to play a certain way at Tynecastle. When teams come to Gorgie they need to know they’re in for a hell of a fight.
- I remember looking at opposition teams arriving, looking at us and the pitch and you could see on their face they were thinking ‘aw naw, here we go’.
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Philippe Clement not entertaining Rangers underdog status against slick Celtic machine as he only cares about one thing
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I’m not talking about just booting the ball back to front. But playing with intensity, waves of attack to put them under pressure, getting balls in the box and making life really uncomfortable for opposition defences.
I would make sure at the very least the opposition centre halves would never leave the pitch thinking ‘that was a canter’.
But it was too easy for Dundee United on Sunday. They could actually have won by more. It’s a cliche but it’s time for hearts on sleeves at Tynecastle. On and off the pitch.
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