We must thank God for versatility of Eggert Jonsson, says Hearts manager

Apr 17 2009 Neil Cameron

Csaba Laszlo yesterday revealed his many candidates for Player of the Year, why he's so happy to make Hearts fans smile again and the man for whom he thanks God.

So just the norm really when it comes to any conversation with the Hearts coach.

Eccentric he may well be and perhaps even a bit on the bonkers side but the Hungarian is always worth listening to.

Laszlo is funny, interesting, knowledgeable, always positive and, it must be said, does love the sound of his own voice.

That makes him great company, which is exactly what he was at the club's Riccarton training complex where he spoke at length, naturally, on a variety of subjects.

But let's start with Eggert Jonsson.

The Icelandic star has been shunted from pillar to post and back again as Laszlo stretches the definition of versatile to its limit.

But you won't hear Jonsson moaning. Instead, he excels. Laszlo said: "We have played Eggert in every single position this season. He has played here, there, as a striker, a midfielder. You could go in jail if you did this to anyone on the outside.

"His performances have been fantastic. He's a great guy. Put him on the left and he does well, in middle of defence he was great and he also tried his best on the right side of midfield.

"He never says, 'Coach, why me?' He always says he willplaywherever he is asked.

"If you have someone like Eggert in your team, you must look upstairs and thank God." Next on Laszlo's agenda was the nominations for the Player of the Year award. The rest of us might struggle to fill a postage stamp with candidates - but not Laszlo.

He said: "I have seen a lot of good performances this season. I would have to think for a little bit before I give my answer." Three seconds later..."The Old Firm have good Scottish players with a knowledge of international football and Europe.

"Barry Ferguson at the moment has a lot of negative issues but for me he is a very good midfield player when fit.

"I have seen him play in games, especially the UEFA Cup, and been very good.

"So it might be that player or Lee Miller from Aberdeen who is a great striker. I like him a lot because of his movement and will to win.

"Then there is Scott Brown at Celtic.

He is a very interesting player. If Brown can have more stability in his positioning, he would be much better.

At the moment he wants to do too much.

Dangerous

"Sometimes if you like to do too much you can make a lot of mistakes.

He is young and a hard worker. There is also Aiden McGeady on the left side, okay he is not a Scottish player, but he is good as well. It is no accident that

Bayern Munich have asked about him. I read that Giovanni Trapattoni was asked by Bayern about McGeady.

I also like Andreas Hinkel.

"Pedro Mendes is another one and you can also talk about Kris Boyd who is always good for a goal. I don't know him so well but I see him on the field and he's dangerous.

"I don't know whether I would play Boyd every week. Here at my club, no player has a free ticket.Rangers have a lot of good strikers and a good choice is always good for a manager.

"For the young player, I am sure that Hearts will be at the front. There is Andrew Driver and Lee Wallace who has had great development." Laszlo has certainly brought the smile back to Hearts.

For too long the club had a cloud hanging over it. Few outside Tynecastle wished them well when Vladamir Romanov was at his meddling worst.

But Laszlo has been a fantastic appointment for all sorts of reasons, none more so than football. A win against Falkirk on Saturday would take them a step closer to third place.

And the manager would love to clinch a European place for the supporters, who have experienced desperate times.

Laszlo said: "Falkirk are fighting for their lives and that can be more dangerous than playing against Celtic or Rangers.

"We don't have a good record at their stadium - we haven't won in four years - so it's going to be difficult.

Together

"But if we can win three games from the remaining six, we will qualify for the Europa League. It's important to be focused for all the games. I'm 100 per cent sure that if we win three, we will qualify.

"The most important target for us was to bring the people back to the stadium. There is now a large number of supporters at Tynecastle which is what we wished for.

"If we reach Europe we will give the supporters a big bonus and this is maybe the most important thing.

"Playing a Europa League qualifier at Tynecastle would be a great thing for our fans.We are together, the fans, club and also the media."

Laszlo said a lot more, of course, But we've run out of space and ink.

Taken from the Daily Record