Festive fixtures key to Hearts' title bid

HEARTS have made it plain for some time that they aim to strengthen their squad during the transfer window. More recently, though, it has become clear that unless their form picks up, any new recruits may come too late for this league campaign.

Four points behind Celtic, they know they can afford no more slip-ups. While the league leaders face Livingston this afternoon, Hearts have a tougher task at home to Falkirk, the side which ended their eight-game winning streak earlier in the season. If Graham Rix's side lose today then again to Celtic on New Year's Day, the gap between first and second could be ten points - surely an insuperable deficit.

"We know we've got a chance of doing something this season and we don't want to let it slip," Paul Hartley acknowledged. "The next two games are really important for us. Hopefully we can see how our season is going to happen by the end of it.

"If we can win on Monday that takes us into the Celtic game four points behind, then if we can win that it's all on again. If we can win those two games it will be fantastic, but Monday's going to be really tough. It's important we win those games to get the confidence back on the park."

Hartley's form has dipped along with that of his team in recent weeks, but he remains upbeat. The squad had a talk last week which helped clear up a few matters, and everyone is apparently enjoying themselves at training. If Hearts are in crisis, they are doing a reasonable job of concealing it.

"Training has been very good this week - the tempo of the training and the attitude of the players," the midfielder said. "We know we were disappointing last week; we let ourselves down, and we let the managers and the supporters down.

"We set standards at the start of the season and they've dropped over the past four games, but I'm sure we'll get it back. Two defeats in 19 games is a fairly good record.

"The standards have dropped over the past couple of games and everybody is looking for a reaction. Nobody likes to be criticised, but we've not played well so people have got the right to have their say.

"But at the start of the season if you'd said we'd be sitting in second place, four points off the top, and with two defeats from 19 games, I think we'd have taken that. You're not going to play well every week. You're going to have a blip in your season and hopefully we've had ours.

"We've had a good chat this week between the players, just talking about what went wrong over the last couple of games. We've upped the tempo in training and everything's a lot better.

"We just have to get back to the basics, doing what we were doing best, which is playing at a high tempo and starting games really well. We've got good, experienced players in that dressing-room, and when things are not going right sometimes it's nice to sit together and have a chat and see what's gone wrong."

Private meetings of players may suggest dissatisfaction with the coaches' instructions, but Hartley insisted that he and his team-mates were intent on self-criticism rather than complaining to each other about Graham Rix, the first-team coach who has been widely blamed for the recent sub- standard performances.

"It's up to the players to go and sort the thing out. The manager has had a lot of criticism and I think it's been unfair. We back him 100 per cent. We want him to do well and we're desperate to get him a good result on Monday.

"It's basically the same players playing every week that won the same amount of games. The manager's come in. We all like him. We enjoy training. It's difficult for him just now - as soon as he comes in he's under pressure to win games."

Hartley himself has experienced some pressure lately, or at least unwanted attention. A report that he was about to be sold was denied by Hearts, and the player himself insisted he was happy where he is.

"I signed a new three-year contract in August and hopefully I'm going to see it out unless the club tell me otherwise. I'm happy here, I'm enjoying my football, I've got a great rapport with the supporters, I've got fantastic team-mates and I really enjoy coming into work every day."

Hartley, meanwhile, will come up against a player today he could have been lining up alongside if things had worked out differently at the end of last season. Alan Gow, the Falkirk forward, has revealed he almost joined Hearts when John Robertson was in charge at Tynecastle.

The 23-year-old striker has so far proved an impressive summer recruit for manager John Hughes after bagging four goals since his move from Airdrie United. But last January Hearts came calling for Gow and Robertson held talks with the player at the Edinburgh club's Riccarton training base. Gow was eager to complete a move east. but the deal collapsed.

He said: "When I was playing at Airdrie, I think a few clubs inquired about me. I spoke to John Robertson at Hearts but unfortunately because of John's situation there I couldn't go. He showed me around the training ground at Riccarton and it looked excellent."

Taken from the Scotsman