Laszlo admits he must lead by example as Hearts chase Scottish Cup victory

LEADERSHIP is a vital commodity for countering adversity and, in this respect, Hearts are privileged to have Csaba Laszlo guiding them towards Easter Road on Sunday. Providing inspiration appears natural to the Hungarian, as he demonstrated to the media when previewing the all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup fourth round tie in the grandiose surroundings of Edinburgh Castle.
An inept performance at Fir Park on Wednesday evening brought an air of despondency upon his squad at the most inopportune juncture. Sunday's match falls into the "must-not-lose" category, with a replay at Tynecastle the only acceptable alternative t o instant progress past Hibs. So Laszlo has found himself acting as guidance teacher to a talented young team which has not sampled victory for five games, or scored a goal in over 400 minutes of play. It is an area in which he excels.

Years developing some of Germany's most talented youngsters at Borussia Moenchengladbach stood him in fine stead, and his ability to lead from the front became instantly evident after his appointment by Hearts last July.

On the first day of the club's German pre-season tour, the sight of Laszlo helping youth-team players carry a set of goals across the Rheingau Stadium in Rudesheim was inspirational in itself. He was determined to galvanise using a hands-on approach, and little has changed in the intervening six months.

Once again he is needed to cajole certain members of the squad out of the lethargy which cost them dearly at Fir Park. A repeat performance in Leith will likely terminate their Scottish Cup ambitions and Laszlo is determined to avert such a scenario.

"A manager has 2000 duties, not only to take training and think about opponents.

"You must lead your players, and these players need leaders who can help," he said.

"We can talk about a lot of characters but you must help. Wednesday's game gave me the answer and I saw what is going on. I think the defeat happened at the right time, we can push the brake and it is okay.

"I have experience with this and I am happy now to realise the problems we have before the Hibs game.

"The Motherwell game was the signal. We must concentrate on our job and not lose energy on something we can't change.

"My duty is to keep the spirit and to lead my players in the right direction. You can only influence your performance in the field.

"Cup games have their own rule and this is a derby. This game has its own presence. At Easter Road, both supporters can enjoy it. For us the first point must be not to lose the game, maybe to have a replay at Tynecastle. But we also want to win the game and to go to the next round.

"The Cup is always interesting for small teams but we have a clash against Hibs and, if you win the cup, you have success.

"Rangers and Celtic dominate the league but other teams like Dundee United, Aberdeen, Hearts and the others are fighting back. The cup is always interesting for European football. I think everybody dreams about this, not only here. For this, we must be prepared."

Hearts are without the injured Larry Kingston and Bruno Aguiar for Sunday but Christos Karipidis will return to a holding midfield berth. Eggert Jonsson will deputise for the suspended Robbie Neilson at right-back. Although keen to forget the travails against Motherwell, Laszlo and his players gathered at Riccarton yesterday to pore over Wednesday's match. "The players watched the 90 minutes again yesterday and they can think about the performance," he said.

"I have my methods which sometimes work, sometimes not, but I think everybody knows we can play better football.

"We sat together watching the game and we talked about this and afterwards everybody was clear we can do better.

"What I said to them was not to lose too much energy on things you cannot change.

"You must concentrate on this game. This is a problem in football sometimes, especially if you have the transfer window open. A lot of people talk too much and young players know they have the possibility to move for the first or second time in their lives.

"They lose a lot of energy and they don't concentrate on their job. On Wednesday, you saw some players who were not in the dressing-room, I don't know where they were. They have listened to me and they know 100 per cent what they have to do. Before the season, nobody gave this team a chance of being in the top six.

"We have worked and worked and now we are in a good position. A lot of people are interested in our young players. In the last three weeks I haven't read in the newspapers that somebody has big interest in Aberdeen players, or Dundee United players, or Kilmarnock players, or St Mirren players. But everybody talks about Hearts players – five, six, seven names.

"This is new for the players: 'They talk about me, I see a lot of news about me every day. What can I do with this? Is it true or not?'. Maybe a player has one agent but then he gets calls from 20 agents and everybody would like to have him. They tell him stories like he has never heard in his life. If you like to move, if you like to see your name in the newspapers every day, you must deliver results in every game and you must play good football.

"Christophe Berra is a very talented player, good enough for the national team. He can play in the Bundesliga, he can play in England or Italy. Tactically, Christophe learned so quick. When I came to this club Christophe was the most sceptical player I had seen in my life. I told him what he must do and what movements he must make and he did not believe me. He learned so quick and, for me, Italy is the country where tactics are most important. Berra can play in Italy with his knowledge."

Learning from Laszlo seems simple but observing Wednesday night's lessons will be critical to Hearts' prospects of progressing in the Scottish Cup.

Taken from the Scotsman