Victory helps to settle the nerves in Gorgie

BY PAUL KIDDIE

HEARTS boss Craig Levein steered his side to victory in his first game as a manager in Europe in midweek - but admitted he wasn’t able to enjoy the special occasion as much as he would have liked.

UEFA Cup football returned to Gorgie for the first time in three years with the visit of Bosnian outfit NK Zeljeznicar on Wednesday, the home side carving out a 2-0 advantage to take to Sarajevo next month with goals in either half from Mark de Vries and Andy Webster.

The result may have been what the Jambos were looking for although the performance against the team from the Balkans suggested the occasion may well have affected Levein’s largely inexperienced squad.

The boss himself admitted to feeling nerves as he prepared to venture into what was unknown territory for him, although he reckons he will be able to take more from the return leg in Sarajevo now that he is aware of the task facing his men.

"It was a different experience with a different kind of pressure attached," he said.

"To be honest I pretty nervous before the game myself with not knowing exactly what to expect.

"It was a matter of performing to a game plan and hope it worked out.

"It wasn’t quite the same as preparing for a league match here when you know who you will be coming up against.

"And I think it was more difficult with the first leg being at home. Had it been the other way about and the second leg was at Tynecastle then there would have been no doubt as to what we needed to do.

"We could have gone all out for goals if required and played with gay abandon, if you like.

"But we had the first leg here and had to be a bit cagey about the whole thing and because of that the players were possibly a bit hesitant to commit themselves going forward.

"That in turn led to some indecision and giving the ball away. In many respects, though, it was completely understandable as we were unsure of just what the correct approach would be."

A European novice in terms of management he may be but Levein is well aware of the advantages of preventing the opposition scoring when you are at home in Europe, a point he hammered home to captain Steven Pressley & Co before kick-off.

"On reflection, now when I take stock of the whole situation, I have to very satisfied," added Levein.

"We won at home in Europe and kept a clean sheet and I think the only thing which was missing from the performance on the night was that we didn’t put the ball in the back of the net as often as we would have liked.

"We didn’t know exactly how to go about Wednesday’s game but I’d stressed to the players beforehand the importance of not conceding any goals and I thought we got the defending pretty much about right.

"And like I said the only thing that was missing was more goals.

"But we have to be satisfied with our work as we have given ourselves a decent base to go on and make the next round which is what we set out to do."

Tynecastle was close to capacity on Wednesday night but the Gorgie faithful grew ever more impatient with their heroes as the first half wore on with few signs of the team breaking down a well organised and stubborn Zeljeznicar side, who will have a new manager in place after Amar Osim was given the boot after Wednesday’s defeat - his assistant Kemal Alispahic having been handed the reins.

Dutchman De Vries settled the nerves with his well-taken strike as the half-hour mark approached with Webster popping up in the right place at the right time in the second period to give Hearts the kind of lead their superiority deserved at the very least.

"I think the game was a learning experience for everyone at the club and we now know what to expect in the second leg," said Levein.

"I suppose I will be able to enjoy the experience a bit more now that we have the first leg under our belts.

"But they have a new coach in place and he might be thinking about making some radical changes. But at least he can’t sign any new players for the game so we’ll have a good idea of the opposition in Sarajevo and there will not be any surprises on that front.

"At the end of the day it was a satisfactory win for us - and you have to remember that we had pushed for more goals and then lost one at the back, a 3-1 home win is nowhere nearly as good as a 2-0 victory."

Hearts fly out to the Balkans on Tuesday, October 14, before facing Zeljeznicar the following day.

Taken from the Scotsman