Hearts face home truths despite win

Stuart Bathgate

AS HEARTS fans mulled over their first encounter with of Murrayfield yesterday, two common factors emerged. One was that despite a few teething troubles it was a very positive experience on Thursday night. The other was that, when it came to a run-of-the-mill league match rather than a UEFA Cup tie, there would be a far smaller crowd and hence a much-diminished atmosphere.

Craig Levein, the Hearts coach who yet again augmented his reputation with an excellent result, was among those who had been unsure of what to expect at the national rugby stadium, and was pleased by what he found. "It was a pleasant surprise for me how good it was, and shows we have nothing to fear about Murrayfield in our European ties," Levein said yesterday, having had time to reflect on his team’s 3-1 win over SC Braga.

"We went into it with as much trepidation as anybody else, but it turned out really well. It was a strange experience, playing in a stadium we had never played at before in a competitive match. We needed all the help we could get, and the support got right behind us."

It was a strange experience for the majority of the crowd as well, but it was predictable that once they got inside the place they would be relatively happy with what they found. Redeveloped in 1994, Murrayfield is far more spacious and comfortable than Tynecastle, and only those football fans suffering from some strange inverted snobbery against rugby would fail to recognise its merits.

The fans might have been more minded to pick fault with the place had the result been different, but, after the first half ended in stalemate, the second half ensured they went home happy. That does not mean they have suddenly become reconciled to leaving Tynecastle - indeed, one thread of opinion on a Hearts chatroom yesterday suggested the victory over the Portuguese side would have been even more emphatic had the match been played up the road in Gorgie.

Nor does it mean that the supporters have developed an instant affection for Chris Robinson, the club’s chief executive and one of its leading shareholders. What it does mean is that, for a tie which leads to the lucrative UEFA Cup group stages, they were mature enough to give their backing to their team.

In fact, the sight of nearly 19,000 fans cheering on the team - even if a couple of thousand of them were curious neutrals - was enough to suggest that, under the correct leadership, Hearts could be a thriving club with a dynamic and growing support. There is, after all, plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that a fair number of people - both supporters and potential investors - stay away because of their dislike of Robinson. If that factor were to be removed from the equation, the result would be an enhanced support.

It should, of course, be acknowledged that there was discord in the Hearts community long before Robinson began to attract the opprobrium of the support. Many of the fans who now chant for Robinson’s removal were there during the reign of Wallace Mercer - or, as they liked to call him, the "fat Tory bastard".

Mercer has lost weight since those days, and, while his political inclinations may be the same, he is regarded in a different light by many. Although his stewardship was blighted by his attempt to take over Hibs, at least he did not run up such heavy debts that the sale of Tynecastle was first proposed by the board and then agreed by a majority of the shareholding.

The point is, though, that the debilitating divide which now exists between Robinson and the support was there to a lesser extent under Mercer too. The rot probably set in seriously after the double-losing season of 1985-86, which would mean that for nearly two decades the club has been hamstrung by its own internal failings.

Such problems are by no means peculiar to Hearts, but it does make you wonder how different things might be if the board and the support ever find themselves truly on the same side. The most likely way of bringing that about is the co-opting on to the board of supporters’ representatives, something which George Foulkes has proposed, and the rest of the board, according to the chairman, have accepted in principle.

For the moment, though, Levein is the man holding the club together with a bit of sticking plaster. If and when he goes, or if he loses his touch and the results start falling off, the club could implode.

Just as Thursday night’s result took a little bit of the heat off Robinson, so Levein’s achievements over the past two seasons have offered a distraction from the club’s off-field problems. Third in each of the last two campaigns, they have made a decent start to this league championship, and should gain another three points tomorrow when they visit Dunfermline.

After that there is a midweek home tie - at Tynecastle, that is - in the CIS Cup, with Kilmarnock the opposition. Then the league again, at home to Inverness Caley Thistle, and then, on the last day of the month, the second leg in Braga.

"The games are coming thick and fast now," said Levein, who knows well that, for all he might try to get his squad to concentrate on them one at a time, the really crucial match is the last one.

And the crucial instant in that game could prove to be the one a minute into injury time when Patrick Kisnorbo, scoring for the first time in senior football, made it 3-1 to Hearts. The outcome of the tie could still depend on the Scottish club getting an away goal, with 2-0 and 2-1 both being conceivable results, but the Australian’s strike has at least given Levein a little bit of tactical breathing space.

"Three-one makes it that bit more comfortable, but there’s still a lot to do," Kisnorbo himself said yesterday. "It was a brilliant feeling to score. I wish I could relive the moment, it just went so quick.

"The atmosphere was incredible and the fans were great. It was just a brilliant night all round."

Levein, who a year ago was unsure of how to play at home to Bordeaux after snatching a 1-0 win in the first leg in France, knows his task is a lot less complicated this time. "Half the job’s done," he said. "I’m really pleased with the way things have turned out.

"If you go into the second leg with a lead, you have to defend properly - and we do that quite well. If you look at [Thursday’s] game as a whole, they had a more defensive mentality than normal and they didn’t look a threat. What disappointed me is the manner in which they scored, and I’d be disappointed if we lose a goal from a set piece over there."

Without Graham Weir, Ramon Perreira and Kevin McKenna for the first leg, Levein chose to play Phil Stamp up front alongside Mark de Vries. He should have more striking options for the second leg, with Weir expected to report back after a bout of mumps next week and Perreira possibly being ready for the Kilmarnock match. McKenna, however, is still rated doubtful.

Conscious of the workload his squad faces over the coming fortnight, Levein will rest several key players for the game at East End Park tomorrow. Phil Stamp’s rest will probably be compulsory, as he picked up a groin strain in training.

"I’m going to rest some players, and the guys who will play have been desperate to get an opportunity," the manager added.

Taken from the Scotsman