Hearts 1-0 Inverness

Sep 22 2008 Gary Ralston Reports

HEARTS helped to launch the new Gaelic telly channel as Csaba Laszlo settled for offering verbal dealings in double Dutch.

BBC ALBA is seeking to breathe new life into a cornerstone of Scottish culture that has been facing an uncertain future.

It was a perverse coincidence broadcast bosses opted to show this game live on Saturday evening, hours after Record Sport revealed fresh financial concerns at Tynecastle.

BBC ALBA has a budget of £20million a year and while Vladimir Romanov once boasted he could spend £10m on aplayer, it's a level of finance Laszlo can only dream about these days as he bids to return respectability to the Jambos. The methods of the former Ferencvaros coach have clearly struck a chord with the players as they made it three wins out of three from home games in the SPL this season.

He obviously knows how to shape a team, even if his ploy of putting out a conservative, counter-attacking line-up at home to match the tactic of their modest SPL opponents raised a few eyebrows.

Understandably at this stage of their development under the new boss, Laszlo feels the confidence of the first-team squad fractured by turmoil last season is best rebuilt piece by piece, victory by victory, irrespective of how it's achieved.

Hearts are being rewarded by their players with honesty, a character trait Laszlo himself would do well to emulate.

His post-match analysis was as disingenuous as his antics on the touchline, which are not fooling the majority of home fans and which run the risk of undermining the good work he has been doing to date with his players.

Laszlo gave his team 10 out of 10 for their tactical discipline, although it would surely have been 11 out of 11 if Laryea Kingston, who looks as if he's going through the motions, had put in the defensive shift his position wide right requires.

Laszlo said: "I must give 10 and you know why? We did not give up any chances to our opponents. They came and came but we closed our area very well and they didn't have any chances. That's football - not winning five or six nil."

Erm, sorry Csaba, but in a game in which only five clear-cut opportunities were created, including the wonderfully worked winner from Saulius Mikoliunas, they all stood out like sore thumbs.

Two of them fell to Inverness, after five minutes when Marian Kello blocked a strike from Phil McGuire and early in the second half when the keeper bundled away an effort at the back post from Roy McBain.

Laszlo said: "At the first chance it was Kello who made the mistake, they didn't have any shots in the second half."

Not even from McBain? He added: "This is my opinion."

His comments were disrespectful to his watching audience, not least opposition boss Craig Brewster, and he's making a big mistake if he reckons Hearts fans will be so easily patronised.

Laszlo's pantomime of faux passion reached its peak in the second half when he melodramatically kicked his chair in the dugout, only for a match ball to spin out from underneath and smack him in the kisser.

His over-the-top gesturing and need to artificially emote plays like an embarrassing show-reel for a Mexican day-time soap opera and he's in danger of losing the respect of some players.

Striker Jamie Mole, for example, did not have his best game, taking occasionally heavy touches, picking out the wrong pass or making the wrong move at the wrong time along the forward line.

Does a young player trying to establish himself in the team really need a manager who flamboyantly and often angrily gestures from the sidelines, in the process validating grumbles from the crowd that can only play on the confidence of a boy he's there to progress?

Hearts just about deserved their win, although the decision of both teams to sit in and hit on the counter attack exposed an awful flaw in the Scottish game.

Michael Stewart apart, there was a chronic inability in the final third of forward-thinking players from either team to pick out a killer pass.

The unwillingness of either defence to push much beyond their own penalty area meant the game was stretched and while the action ebbed and flowed from one end to another the end product was dire, although Hearts will be encouraged to claim their first clean sheet in the league this season.

The Jambos' opener was a super goal as Audrius Ksanavicius, operating just off Mole, played in Mikoliunas to draw Michael Fraser and slide a shot into the net after only seven minutes.

We almost saw the goal of the season 10 minutes later when a long pass from Lee Wallace picked out Stewart and his first-time volley on the drop was brilliantly touched over by the Caley Thistle keeper.

In a rare fit of activity, Kingston went close soon after when he burst down the right and fired over the top but McBain's later effort apart that was pretty much it as Laszlo later attempted to laugh off concerns about non-payment of wages.

He even claimed mischievously to know nothing about it, even though he had addressed the players on their valid concerns surrounding their salaries only 24 hours before.

With a glint in his eye he suggested he knows little about his own finances as it's his good lady who looks after the family accounts.

He stopped short of suggesting she wears the trousers but he'd do well to remove the cloak of melodrama surrounding his own personality as it's in danger of covering his qualities as a coach.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Michael Stewart (Hearts)

'Csaba's gesturing plays like an embarrassing showreel for Mexican soap opera and he's in danger of losing respects'

MATCH STATS

56 POSSESSION % 44

5 SHOTS ON TARGET 3

6 SHOTS OFF TARGET 5

5 CORNERS 4

15 FOULS CONCEDED 11

3 OFFSIDES 1

HEARTS

MAN BY MAN

Marian Kello: Excellent command of his penalty area. 7

Lee Wallace: Steady, if unspectacular, defensive display. 6

Christophe Berra: Strong and commanding in physical tussles. 6

Marius Zaliukas: Couple of concentration slips didn't get him down. 6

Eggert Jonsson: Powerful in the tackle, pacy in support from defence. 7

Christos Karipidis: Demolition man broke up Inverness raids. 7

Michael Stewart: Class act controlled the middle of the park. 8

Saulius Mikoliunas: Excellent finish for goal, struggled to create from wide. 6

Larry Kingston: Caught on hop defensively. 5

Audrius Ksanavicius: Keen contributor along the forward line. 6

Jamie Mole: Lack of finesse with final ball let him down. 5

Subs: Ruben Palazuelos - added calm to middle of park, 3. Christian Nade - powerful presence late on, 3. Adrian Mrowiec - cameo appearance near end, 3.

INVERNESS

MAN BY MAN

Michael Fraser: Consistently proving he has what it takes. 7

Ross Tokely: Never exposed but little forward threat. 6

Phil McGuire: Powerful presence, played with authority. 7

Grant Munro: Skipper is back and barely put a foot wrong. 7

Richard Hastings: Played Kingston well. 6

Don Cowie: Afew of his dangerous crosses went begging. 6

Roy McBain: Had work cut out against Stewart and Karipidis. 6

Ian Black: Decent possession play whenever on the ball. 6

Dougie Imrie: Found space tough to find against Jonsson. 6

Andrew Barrowman: Given few opportunities to shine up front. 5

Adam Rooney: Worked hard but forced to feed off scraps. 6

Subs: Barry Wilson - lively contributor as Caley chased game, 5. Garry Wood-given little change from Hearts defence, 3. Iain Vigurs - on too late to make impact, 3.

MAGIC MOMENT

Michael Stewart's first-half volley and Michael Fraser's resulting save were superb.

Taken from the Daily Record