Revolutionaries face Celtic interrogation

TOM ENGLISH

FOR releasing us from the monotony of a duopoly, for bringing a little uncertainty into our staid football world, all of us owe a debt of thanks to Hearts, whether we're inclined to pay it or not. Vladimir Romanov has sparked something, not just at Tynecastle but in the SPL as a whole, something that may burn out quickly or stay aglow for years. Quite simply, the thrill is in not knowing.

While the lights appear to have gone out on the Premiership - bookmakers are already paying up on Chelsea - here, we are still illuminated by Romanov's team, still mystified at this vision of them as genuine title contenders. There are still plenty of doubters out there - and will be until the trophy is paraded down Gorgie Road - but Hearts' visit to Celtic on Saturday will bring a little more clarity to the situation.

We say this is Romanov's team but, of course, we should say it is George Burley's. One of the more entertaining strands to the multi-layered tale of the Hearts revolution is the bonkers relationship between Burley and the man who has, in fairness to him, put his money where his mouth is. On these pages, Romanov denies that he has missed his vocation in life as a football manager but you have to wonder about that. If he's not a frustrated gaffer then he does a reasonable impression of one, short of standing in the dugout and barking the orders. Nobody can doubt his passion.

The Lithuanian is almost too good to be true but the evidence of his work is there for all to see at Tynecastle. The club's supporters understandably serenade him but, surprisingly, nobody at Hearts sings about Burley, the man who has somehow put together this jigsaw in jigtime. Perhaps, the fact that Romanov personally sourced Rudi Skacel, Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednar, three of the team's undoubted stars, has blinded the fans to the job Burley has done. Perhaps Romanov likes it that way since he himself has done virtually nothing to salute his own manager, as David Murray at Rangers or Peter Lawwell at Celtic would assuredly do. "Considering the players I'm giving him, why wouldn't he be successful?" seems to be the gist of Romanov's thinking about Burley. It's a curious relationship and you suspect we only know the half of it. Truly, these two are the oddest couple Scottish football has seen in an age.

Nine games into the season and we have arrived at an intriguing point. Hearts have a fine team but a rather threadbare squad and they were always liable to run into difficulties when their numbers began to dwindle, through injury or suspension or both. That time is now. On Saturday they go to Celtic Park with key men ruled out. Craig Gordon will sit in the stand, having got himself sent off at Falkirk last Sunday. Bednar, the striker, is also missing with another attacker, the lesser-spotted Michal Pospisil, a major doubt. Julien Brellier, the combative French midfielder who bossed the play against Rangers, is expected to recover from his ailment but on the debatable list is Takis Fyssas, the hugely impressive Greek full-back. Fyssas has started six games for Hearts and in that time the defence has conceded just two goals. No coincidence, that.

This week brings further cause for concern. A byproduct of bringing quality players to the club is suffering while they are with their countries. Hearts have a dozen players on international duty and, so, a dozen reasons for sleepless nights. At full strength it would be a fair fight against Celtic, which is an indication of the massive strides Hearts have made. But the visitors will be at a serious disadvantage on Saturday.

This has been their finest beginning to a league season in 91 years, a beginning that has brought eight victories and a draw in Falkirk that must have felt like a victory given that they were a man and two goals down at one stage. Yet here's the harsh reality: if Celtic beat them on Saturday, Hearts will no longer be in sole possession of the lead despite having done precious little wrong. They will be joined on their perch by a side that was in crisis just a few short weeks ago, who conceded five goals in Europe, four against Motherwell and three against Rangers. Hearts have not shipped three goals - not to mind four and five - in any one of their 11 games this season. In fact, they've only lost six goals in the entire league.

A Hearts defeat would probably ignite talk of a collapse but Romanov's readies make for a different dynamic this season. Hearts will embrace the January transfer window more than their rivals, they will bolster their squad, plug some holes and begin anew. Work is already being done in that regard. Burley is away on his travels this weekend and you can be sure that Romanov is also watching someone, somewhere. Hearts have made little secret of their needs: a right-back, a right-sided midfielder, a reserve centre-back and another forward, ideally Kenny Miller. The Old Firm won't be idle in January but neither will they be as busy as Hearts. If the Tynecastle outfit are within striking distance of their two rivals at that point then they'll be happy enough. They'll take their chances from there.

Given their absentees, Hearts should see Saturday as a game to nothing. Win at the weekend and they go six points ahead of Celtic. Lose and they are level. Where's the shame in that? Few are supposing they'll win. The burden on Gordon Strachan's team should be greater, mainly because they are at home and their vast support will be demanding they put the upstarts from the capital firmly in their place.

We are all agog at what Hearts have done but the first signs of something half-decent are now evident in Strachan's regime. A string of clean sheets of late doesn't make their defence bullet-proof but neither is it as pathetically vulnerable as it was earlier in the season. Equally, a goal-fest against Livingston has brought mention of Celtic's front six playing "total football". Heavens above. It was Paul Lambert's sieve-like Livi they were playing for goodness sake.

Strachan is a realist. "It's just a little glow of satisfaction," he said on Friday. His work is beginning to bear fruit, though. The intention under their new manager is to play it fast and slick where under Martin O'Neill it was mostly a physical bombardment that got them places. Pace is the watchword round Celtic Park at the moment. It is why speedsters like Shaun Maloney and Craig Beattie have come to prominence, it is why the dependency on John Hartson is now less than it was and why Aiden McGeady is now something of a peripheral figure.

Maloney is, in some ways, the hottest property at Celtic at the moment. Repositioned on the left side of midfield the young man is one of the big winners in the Strachan regime. "I'd have wanted my chance to come a bit quicker but maybe I wasn't ready for it then," said Maloney. "The new manager told me to be patient at the start of the season and that's probably not one of my virtues. You don't want to be a sub. It took a few weeks and a few suspensions but I've got a chance now."

Like everybody else, Maloney paid tribute to what Hearts have done so far this season but reminded them that Celtic "are a very confident team". In other words, he expects his side to win, which we all do. All of us, except the bold revolutionaries in Edinburgh.

Taken from the Scotsman