Celtic walk tall amongst the giants of Hearts

BARRY ANDERSON
TYNECASTLE was labelled "Land of the Giants" by Gordon Strachan yesterday in reference to Hearts' physical attributes. After such an encouraging start to the league campaign, the hulking figures who roam there appear to be shrinking by the week. Csaba Laszlo, his honeymoon period long over, is now facing a stern examination of his credentials after one win in seven matches.
Strachan's summation of yesterday's match was worryingly accurate from a Hearts perspective.

"We started in top gear," he said. "Now I'm not talking top gear as in the passing's nice and everything is beautiful.

"We started with a determinati on which said, 'We're not getting beat here. It's going to be physical but we're going to stand up to it and we're going to play when we have the chance to play'. So that was us starting in top gear.

"We got the goals and felt comfortable in the game, apart from set plays, which you do because it's Land of the Giants here. We dealt with them fantastically well, marshalled by Mick (Stephen McManus] and Gary (Caldwell]. It goes to 2-0 and you come down a couple of gears. That's only natural.

"I think Man United were the same when they played against us. They started in top gear and when they got two or three up they just relaxed a little bit.

"That's what happened to us. It would be nit-picking if I started talking about our passing in the last 20 minutes because I thought the game was finished by then."

It was, and had been for some time. Celtic were virtually done and dusted inside 20 minutes following goals from Shaun Maloney and Gary Caldwell. Strachan claimed they hit top gear during that period but beads of sweat on the visitors were conspicuous by their absence.

That was also the case for many Hearts players.

The hosts rallied somewhat after Marius Zaliukas was dismissed early in the second half for conceding a penalty with a professional foul on Scott McDonald. Paul Hartley missed the subsequent spot-kick on his former stomping ground, however, it had little effect on the game. Although Hearts were more resolute thereafter, they could offer nothing in an attacking context and had to wait until 85 minutes for their first shot on target.

Reinvigorating the side is now Laszlo's priority ahead of Saturday's trip to St Mirren.

No-one should read too much into the club's league position – eighth – given they are only two points worse off than Motherwell and Kilmarnock in joint third.

Concentration levels appear to need most attention, particularly during the often-dogged early stages of SPL games.

Hearts have conceded the opening goal in their last five fixtures and Laszlo is at a loss to explain why. "I am most disappointed because we lost the goal too early, after only six minutes," he said. "Janos Balogh came out and maybe he must punch the ball out to the wing and not direct to the middle.

"The guy (Maloney] shot direct to make a fantastic goal, this is the quality. Ten minutes later, and this is the point for me, there was the second goal which killed the spirit a little bit.

"After the second goal, we lost the discipline, the players were very disappointed.

"In the last 15 minutes we came back and showed more football. But if you lose to goals in a short time, like ten minutes, it is not easy."

Balogh was certainly culpable at the opener and, having rose high above all heads to stretch out two fists at the ball, it was difficult to decipher why he elected to punch instead of catch. Maloney did not linger to find out and dispatched the ball into the Hungarian's net from around 30 yards out. When Caldwell bundled the ball home at the back post on 19 minutes – he used an arm not spotted by referee Craig Thomson – Hearts' spirit seemed to evaporate.

"After the game I saw it was a handball but for the referee it was very hard to see this," said Laszlo. "I am not being critical of anybody. I did not see it first time, I saw it on the monitor.

"If you lose at home 2-0, it's definitely a disappointing result. Generally, we must look at the game. In the second half, we played about 40 minutes with ten men. The team stood very compact and we did not concede any goals. Also, you can take a positive after we lost Zaliukas from the field. We were playing 4-4-1 (with ten men] but we tried to play with the wings to create chances with Driver and Miko and Jamie Mole up front.

"I took Christian Nade off not only for his performance, but because we had ten men and I needed someone for running long. Mole was the guy. Christian Nade is good if you must keep the ball up front.

"Celtic closed us very good on the left and right side, we never got behind their defence and this was the key. They played against ten men in the second half and they tried to press for more goals, but in defence we stood very good. Karipidis and Berra were very solid in defence.

"Also, in midfield we were very unlucky. Sometimes we had the chance to shoot, sometimes Michael Stewart lost the ball and there was too much square passing.

"I must compliment Celtic, they played good football. They used their chances very cleverly. I think they had three chances and two goals, this speaks of the quality from their team. It was the same game as when Manchester United played against Celtic. Now I wish Celtic good luck against Manchester in the Champions League. We must concentrate on our next opponents."

It could be argued that Hearts simply need to concentrate, and Laszlo's focus over the coming days will surely centre on that very issue.

Taken from the Scotsman