Hungarian aware of the impact made by ex-Hearts keeper

BARRY ANDERSON
THE memory of Craig Gordon will live long at Tynecastle. A string of world-class performances and a £9million transfer to England's Premier League are not easily forgotten. Janos Balogh, however, is endeavouring to eclipse his most decorated predecessor in the minds of Hearts supporters.
He hasn't made a bad start, according the team an assuredness in goal despite excessive disruption in central defence of late. Balogh had to wait until October to debut for Hearts despite joining on loan from Debrecen last August, but since then he has been the epitome of confidence. Even Marian Kello, a loanee from FBK Kaunas, has fallen from first to third choice in the three-way goalkeeping battle which also includes Jamie MacDonald. Balogh became a bona fide Hearts player a week past Monday when his loan was made permanent.

Now, despite centre-backs changing like a merry-go-round due to Christophe Berra's departure and Marius Zaliukas' suspension, he wants to cement himself long term beneath the goal frame where Gordon, pictured, became an idol. "It is difficult for everybody to follow Craig Gordon," said the Hungarian internationalist. "He is a very good goalkeeper and I know he left Hearts for £9million. If I play well, I think everybody, the fans and the media won't be thinking about Craig Gordon.

"It is difficult because the club has three good goalkeepers and we must fight every day for the No.1 position. I am playing in the team just now but I must give my best to play week to week."

Balogh feels particularly at home in Edinburgh despite a relatively short stay in the Capital, hence his ambition to remain Hearts' long-term first choice. "I came here last summer and I hoped I could stay. I wanted to make a good impression to stay here. After I got to know Edinburgh I liked the city. My family liked it also so all the time we thought 'we must stay here'.

"When I came here I was here for four days. The manager wanted to watch me but I did not know him before I came here. He knew me from Hungary. I played for (former club] Sopron against Ferencvaros in the Hungarian cup final and we won 5-1. He saw me play in Hungary many times." Csaba Laszlo has indeed procured a useful candidate to succeed Gordon after initially starting the season with Steve Banks as No.1.

Kello's loan expires at the end of the season and the Slovakian is unlikely to hang around to be merely Balogh's deputy, but Hearts are keen to retain MacDonald for next year.

The young Scot's contract is also up in the summer and Laszlo has spoken of an extension. "We have three very good goalkeepers here," he said. "We want Jamie to stay and we want to give him a new contract. Any of the three of them could play well for us and we are pleased to have them all in our squad here."

Balogh acknowledged that his prosperity is intrinsically linked to those playing directly in front of him. The relationship between a goalkeeper and his centre-backs underpins the stability within any football team, however Balogh has had to contend with constant changes in defence of late.

Berra's transfer to Wolves and Zaliukas' four-match suspension mean Eggert Jonsson and Christos Karipidis were due to face Aberdeen together this afternoon. As Hearts pursue a European place, Balogh remains confident that defensive reorganising will not hinder their ambitions.

"Central defence is two key positions in football," said Balogh. "We have players for these positions and we try every day to build new relationships between the players and the goalkeeper. We don't do extra work because it is not just about the goalkeeper and defenders. If the defence is good, it's because the whole team is defending. Midfielders and strikers are the same.

"We have games coming against Celtic, Rangers, Aberdeen. And, for example, we don't know what the score will be when Dundee United play against one of these teams. Aberdeen, Dundee United and Hearts are the main teams going for Europe.

"We have a lot of hard games left. Maybe after the third round of matches we will see what the position is. If we have a good position before the top-six split, I think we have a chance of Europe."

Taken from the Scotsman