20050122 Hearts in the Press from Scotsman Goalscoring problems continue to be Hearts' Achilles heel Stuart Bathgate

DUNDEE 1-1 HEARTS

HEARTS have made changes to their coaching and playing staff since they won at Dens on the first day of the season, but the principal failing so evident then remains unaltered.

On that day in August they dominated Dundee completely, yet in the end required a Steven Pressley penalty to secure a 1-0 victory. That inability to convert pressure into goals is why, five months on, John Robertson’s side find themselves down in fifth place. Even if they win at Livingston tomorrow night, they will still be eight points behind Hibernian, who are scoring for fun and showing no sign of flagging in the race to be best of the rest.

Hearts’ defence is still pretty solid, and their midfield has if anything got better of late - on Saturday, for instance, Neil MacFarlane drove the team forward in commanding fashion, proving he is capable of doing far more than playing a holding role. Their strikers, however, are some way below the standard achieved at the club over the past couple of years, and the reason for that is obvious.

Mark de Vries only left Tynecastle physically earlier this month, but he departed in spirit some time earlier, as his game was affected by the transfer speculation. Injuries restricted the Dutchman’s appearances earlier in the season, and he only had one league goal to his credit when he left for Leicester City.

In other words, Hearts have been playing for some time without the man who was not only their main goal threat, but also created havoc in defences from which his team-mates often profited. And there is no-one on the books who is an obvious replacement.

Dennis Wyness is not an out-and-out striker, Kevin McKenna is not a striker at all, and Graham Weir frequently offers little more than nuisance value. In the coming months, Hearts’ hopes of catching their city rivals may well depend on how quickly Lee Miller becomes match fit and learns to lead the line.

The former Falkirk striker, on loan from Bristol City until the end of the season, provided the knockdown from which Joe Hamill cancelled out Fabian Caballero’s opener. At 6ft 2in he may be regarded as primarily an aerial threat, but he is also fast on the deck and has decent close control.

"Lee played well," Robertson said of the 21-year-old. "He holds the ball up and was getting players to him. The only thing that let us down was our play in the last third.

"You can see that we are trying a passing game, but we lack the end product. We passed the ball from back to front really well. Everybody is looking for goalscorers and that is what we have to find."

It is a measure of the heightened expectation of Hearts that they should be thought of as having a poor season, and some of their supporters have already written off this campaign. Hamill, however, believes there is still time for the team to overhaul their rivals.

"We can still catch Hibs and third place remains our aim for the season," said the goalscorer, who was on target just a couple of minutes after coming on as a substitute. "This was probably two points dropped, because we have to be coming to places like Dens Park to win, but we’re not too downbeat.

"But we’re definitely up for the challenge of fighting with Hibs for a place in Europe. They are going really well, but it’s only halfway and we can catch them."

Dundee, meanwhile, turn their attention to their own city rivals and Saturday’s derby at Tannadice. Just three points ahead of United and four clear of the bottom, they are some way short of safety, but after some woeful displays in autumn they have learned to make the most of their modest resources.

Although in the first half their ambitions were limited to the odd counter-attack, they were far more confident after taking the lead ten minutes into the second period through a chance which was gift-wrapped by a misplaced clearance from Jamie McAllister. After Hearts’ equaliser John Sutton spurned a good chance to restore the home team’s lead.

Stevie Robb could actually have put Dundee two up just before Hamill came on, but after evading a couple of defenders he shot too high. The full-back, one of Dundee’s most impressive performers on the day, remains hopeful for the rest of the campaign.

"We have a good record against United, so we are confident [about Saturday]," he said. We have confidence that we can pull away from the relegation battle. That is the first time in a long time that we’ve managed to put together two decent performances back to back."

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<-Page	<-Team	Sat 22 Jan 2005 Dundee 1 Hearts 1	Team->	Page->
<-Srce	<-Type	Scotsman ------ Report	Type->	Srce->
John Robertson	<-auth	Stuart Bathgate	auth->	Willie Young
		[F Caballero 54]
10	of 014	Joe Hamill 60	L SPL	A
Goalscoring problems continue to be Hearts' Achilles heel STUART BATHGATE AT DENS PARK DUNDEE 1-1 HEARTS HEARTS have made changes to their coaching and playing staff since they won at Dens on the first day of the season, but the principal failing so evident then remains unaltered. On that day in August they dominated Dundee completely, yet in the end required a Steven Pressley penalty to secure a 1-0 victory. That inability to convert pressure into goals is why, five months on, John Robertson’s side find themselves down in fifth place. Even if they win at Livingston tomorrow night, they will still be eight points behind Hibernian, who are scoring for fun and showing no sign of flagging in the race to be best of the rest. Hearts’ defence is still pretty solid, and their midfield has if anything got better of late - on Saturday, for instance, Neil MacFarlane drove the team forward in commanding fashion, proving he is capable of doing far more than playing a holding role. Their strikers, however, are some way below the standard achieved at the club over the past couple of years, and the reason for that is obvious. Mark de Vries only left Tynecastle physically earlier this month, but he departed in spirit some time earlier, as his game was affected by the transfer speculation. Injuries restricted the Dutchman’s appearances earlier in the season, and he only had one league goal to his credit when he left for Leicester City. In other words, Hearts have been playing for some time without the man who was not only their main goal threat, but also created havoc in defences from which his team-mates often profited. And there is no-one on the books who is an obvious replacement. Dennis Wyness is not an out-and-out striker, Kevin McKenna is not a striker at all, and Graham Weir frequently offers little more than nuisance value. In the coming months, Hearts’ hopes of catching their city rivals may well depend on how quickly Lee Miller becomes match fit and learns to lead the line. The former Falkirk striker, on loan from Bristol City until the end of the season, provided the knockdown from which Joe Hamill cancelled out Fabian Caballero’s opener. At 6ft 2in he may be regarded as primarily an aerial threat, but he is also fast on the deck and has decent close control. "Lee played well," Robertson said of the 21-year-old. "He holds the ball up and was getting players to him. The only thing that let us down was our play in the last third. "You can see that we are trying a passing game, but we lack the end product. We passed the ball from back to front really well. Everybody is looking for goalscorers and that is what we have to find." It is a measure of the heightened expectation of Hearts that they should be thought of as having a poor season, and some of their supporters have already written off this campaign. Hamill, however, believes there is still time for the team to overhaul their rivals. "We can still catch Hibs and third place remains our aim for the season," said the goalscorer, who was on target just a couple of minutes after coming on as a substitute. "This was probably two points dropped, because we have to be coming to places like Dens Park to win, but we’re not too downbeat. "But we’re definitely up for the challenge of fighting with Hibs for a place in Europe. They are going really well, but it’s only halfway and we can catch them." Dundee, meanwhile, turn their attention to their own city rivals and Saturday’s derby at Tannadice. Just three points ahead of United and four clear of the bottom, they are some way short of safety, but after some woeful displays in autumn they have learned to make the most of their modest resources. Although in the first half their ambitions were limited to the odd counter-attack, they were far more confident after taking the lead ten minutes into the second period through a chance which was gift-wrapped by a misplaced clearance from Jamie McAllister. After Hearts’ equaliser John Sutton spurned a good chance to restore the home team’s lead. Stevie Robb could actually have put Dundee two up just before Hamill came on, but after evading a couple of defenders he shot too high. The full-back, one of Dundee’s most impressive performers on the day, remains hopeful for the rest of the campaign. "We have a good record against United, so we are confident [about Saturday]," he said. We have confidence that we can pull away from the relegation battle. That is the first time in a long time that we’ve managed to put together two decent performances back to back." Taken from the Scotsman
<-Page	<-Team	Sat 22 Jan 2005 Dundee 1 Hearts 1	Team->	Page->