Eleven from heaven sees Hearts soar

PAUL KIDDIE

THE difference in Hearts this season is striking.

Sitting proudly on top of the table after taking maximum points from the opening three league games, one glance at the 'goals for' column shows just what a dramatic resurgence there has been since George Burley assumed control.

Sunday's impressive 3-0 defeat of Dundee United at Tannadice saw the Jambos continue their stunning start to the campaign, the Tayside triumph following hard on the heels of last weekend's 4-0 drubbing of Hibs and the 4-2 opening-day win at Kilmarnock.

That makes it a grand total of 11 goals in just three games for Burley's boys, a significant improvement on last year's campaign when it took the Gorgie outfit a dozen matches in the league to reach that figure.

Scoring in Europe wasn't a problem - the Jambos rattled five past Braga in qualifying for the group stages of the UEFA Cup - but former boss Craig Levein didn't see his men hit their 11th goal until a 3-0 home win over Dundee at Tynecastle at the end of October.

The comparison must make pleasant reading for the new manager, who was faced with a worrying striker crisis soon after his arrival. With Graham Weir having broken his ankle during the pre-season tour to Dublin, Dennis Wyness was left as the only recognised first-team front man.

With the blessing of majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov, Burley wasted little time in plunging into the transfer market with his focus centred on eastern Europe.

Powerful Lithuanian Edgaras Jankauskas was soon brought on board and deals to secure the services of highly-rated Czech stars Roman Bednar and Michal Pospisil were also thrashed out.

The trio will form the basis of the Hearts attack this season, Bednar's counter at Tannadice his second of the season. His two other team-mates have yet to attain proper match fitness and it's fair to assume there will be even more goals in the team once Burley has had longer with his troops on the training ground.

"Things are looking very encouraging at the moment," said Gorgie star Jamie McAllister.

"Last season we always defended very well but didn't really get the goals. This season, though, we are a threat from all over the park. The front men have already shown they'll get goals, the wide men are always capable of scoring while everyone knows about the threat which Paul Hartley gives us from midfield. Rudi Skacel has also settled in very quickly. He's been superb for us and to get a goal in each of our first three games has been brilliant. It took us a while to get a few goals last season but things are moving in the right direction now and if we can keep scoring then I'm confident we can win more than we'll lose."

Burley has been busy constructing what he hopes will be a formidable-looking squad over the past few weeks, seven new signings having been made to date with at least another couple on the horizon before the transfer window closes at the end of the month. The latest recruit, Takis Fyssas, was a surprise starter at Tannadice, the Greek Euro 2004 winner ousting McAllister from the left-back berth on Sunday.

Despite not having played since featuring for his country in the Confederations Cup at the end of June, the 32-year-old slotted in well as the Jambos chalked up a second successive clean sheet.

His arrival as arguably the club's biggest signing in recent years has thrown down the gauntlet to McAllister, who now has a tough task on his hands to reclaim his jersey.

"Obviously I was disappointed not to start on Sunday, especially after the derby," he said. "I thought I played very well against Hibs, we kept a clean sheet and scored four goals.

"It's up to the gaffer, though. It was his decision. I think I'm playing well at the moment but I'll just have to keep trying to impress the boss in training."

The former Livingston and Aberdeen star didn't miss out completely at the weekend, Burley introducing him at half-time in place of Saulius Mikoliunas as Burley looked to consolidate things having taken a 2-0 lead into the interval.

As against Hibs, the Scotland cap actually finished the game up front as part of a three-man attack. It's not something he's particularly familiar with but as long as he's out on the park, McAllister doesn't mind what role Burley wants him to play.

"That's the last two games I've been pushed up front for the last 15 minutes or so," said McAllister. "I am willing to play anywhere in the team. I helped set up the third goal against United, which was nice, and it's case of just trying to keep improving." Hearts marched back to the top of the table with their win at Tannadice, the Jambos now two points clear of Celtic, who have to travel to Ibrox this weekend.

With successive home games coming up against Aberdeen and Motherwell before hitting the road to Livingston and Inverness, it's a significant period approaching for the men in maroon.

There is a real buzz of expectancy among the fans at the moment but McAllister insists the players' focus remains firmly on the meeting with the Dons. We are top of the league with a 100 per cent record and there is a brilliant feeling in the camp," he said.

"We knew we had been given a decent start to the season fixtures-wise as it was a few games until we had to meet the Old Firm. We have started well and given ourselves a good foundation to build on.

"We are not interested in Celtic or Rangers, our only concern is ourselves. People may talk about the games we have coming up but we have to take things one step at a time.

"Aberdeen got a great result against Rangers at the weekend so will come to Tynecastle full of confidence.

"We had a magnificent support through at the United game and I think the players really responded to that. There is going to be another full house at Tynecastle on Saturday and it's up to us to take the game to Aberdeen. If we can attack as we have been doing and continue to defend well then hopefully we can put another three points on the board. We have managed three victories from our first three games and the aim now has to be to make that four wins from four."

He added: "Hopefully we can stay in the top three in the weeks ahead and keep pushing for first place. We are on top of the table now and the longer we can stay there the better it will be for everyone at the club."

Taken from the Scotsman