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| <-Page | <-Team | Wed 20 Sep 2006 Alloa Athletic 0 Hearts 4 | Team-> | Page-> |
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McCann tells Hearts fans: it’s not easy replacing Rudi SkacelROB ROBERTSON September 20 2006 Neil McCann believes he can silence his Tynecastle critics and help Hearts to silverware at the end of the season. The Scotland internationalist said yesterday that he has been hurt by the hard time he has given by some sections of the crowd since he returned to the club. The midfielder is confident he can put those travails behind him, though, and that his experience will help the Edinburgh club, who face Alloa Athletic in the CIS Insurance Cup tonight, to future success. In his debut against Kilmarnock last season, he lasted just 20 minutes before coming off with a knee injury which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. This time around supporters have turned on McCann who has been the subject of booing. "I've missed pre-season and I know some sections of the fans have been giving me stick and that is quite hurtful in a way because you are trying your best and it takes time to get your game back together," he said. "You do hear it, you'd have to be deaf not to. So much of the game passes you by but when you are coming off and getting jeered it hurts. "That's football, the punters pay their money and they are entitled to shout their displeasure if you are not playing well but it isn't for a lack of trying and my game will come. I have made a couple of goals now and it's now just down to me getting my match sharpness." He admitted that Rudi Skacel, who was a cult hero at Tynecastle, was always going to be a hard act to follow on the left side of midfield. "I think my position this year has slightly changed in that I have been asked to play a more disciplined role," said McCann. "I haven't been playing as a winger or a front three player, it's been more about keeping the shape of the team and helping the full-back as well as getting forward. It can be a tiring shift. "It would be nice for the fans to understand that but I can also understand where they are coming from because my game is about making chances for people and I like nothing more than doing that. Sometimes though it's not about Neil McCann, it's about the team and if I am sacrificing my natural game for the good of the team then I will do it. "Rudi was a cult hero here and weighed in with a huge amount of goals but our games are different. I would love to get up the park and chip in with loads of goals and I am trying to do that." McCann dismissed talk of a crisis at the club and believes their inconsistent form had been blown out of proportion. "A lot of people have been talking about a crisis but to be sitting three points off the top of the league when we're not playing well is a position a lot of teams would swap with us," said McCann. "We're maybe not clicking but we are still picking up points so when it does click and the team starts playing well then we can go from strength to strength." Hearts face a team going through a troubled time of their own with Allan Maitland, the Alloa manager admitting that he is going through his worst spell in management. The second division side have suffered five straight defeats and prop up the table ahead of the third round meeting at Recreation Park. "It is the worst record I think I've had as a manager. We face a daunting task but stranger things have happened in football. As Queen's Park showed against Aberdeen, it can be done." Meanwhile John O'Neil, the Gretna midfielder, insists tonight's tie against former club Hibernian is not ideal for him – because he has a soft spot for Tony Mowbray's side. "I always like to see them doing well but unfortunately one of us will have to go out," he said.  Taken from the Herald |
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