Hearts head north seeking to split Old Firm with victory over Aberdeen

Published Date: 25 February 2011
By Barry Anderson
Victory over Aberdeen tomorrow will propel Hearts to second in the SPL, albeit perhaps only for 24 hours. Rangers' Sunday fixture against St Johnstone provides a window for splitting the Old Firm, even temporarily, and offers ample motivation for the assignment at Pittodrie.
Longer-term, Hearts' hopes of overhauling Rangers to secure second spot before the season's end are growing stronger by the day. Jim Jefferies and his players may be reluctant to comment publicly but their chances of infiltrating the Glasgow duopoly are as strong this year as they have been in recent memory.

Come full-time tomorrow, Rangers will have three matches in hand over Hearts, but the lack of resources at Ibrox - something which appears to have helped Celtic take charge in the title race - could have a telling influence during the final stages of the campaign. If Hearts can leap into second, they may be able to resist attempts to overhaul them given the strength in depth of the Tynecastle first-team squad.

The last time they held second place for any sustained period was in autumn 2006. Under the command of the Lithuanian head coach Valdas Ivanauskas, they had opened the 2006/07 league campaign confidently. Home victories over Celtic and Dundee United by scorelines of 2-1 and 4-0 respectively were supplemented by a convincing 3-1 win at Pittodrie. Hearts remained second until November 13 that year, when a 1-1 draw at Falkirk saw them slip to third on goal difference as the malaise of Eduard Malofeev's brief but tortuous reign took a firm hold.

The only other time in the last five years that Hearts have penetrated the top two placings was early in the 2008/09 season, Csaba Laszlo's first as manager. The Hungarian guided the club briefly to the top of the SPL and they remained second until a 3-0 defeat at Tannadice on September 27.

Despite an up and down start, this season has been far the most consistent in Gorgie since 2005/06. Consequently, opponents awaiting a visit from Hearts now harbour the kind of trepidation normally only evident when the Old Firm are in town.

That's certainly the belief of Aberdeen defender David McNamee, who said: "It's going to be very difficult for us to take anything from the game. It's a massive incentive for Hearts to split the Old Firm. They won't need any more motivation than that, so they will want three points for that reason. We expect them to come up here and really go for our throats so that should make it an entertaining game."

Impressed as he has been by Jefferies' men, McNamee nevertheless believes Aberdeen are every bit as big a club as Hearts and should draw inspiration from what has been achieved in Gorgie this season.

The former Livingston defender said: "Since I've been up here I've realised how big Aberdeen Football Club is to the area. The fans are all desperate for the club to be pushing the way Hearts are. We are looking to climb the table and the manager will be looking to do that next season as well. We feel the club and the area is more than capable of doing it.

"We've tried to set a standard in every game by starting as brightly as possible. Tomorrow will be absolutely no different because we want to pin our opponents back. Hearts will be looking to do exactly the same so it might make for a very open game."

While Hearts seek to maintain momentum in pursuit of Rangers and Celtic, Aberdeen feel they must atone for previous misdemeanours against tomorrow's opponents. Both encounters between the teams this season have ended in Hearts' favour, Kevin Kyle securing a 1-0 win for the visitors at Pittodrie in October before December's 5-0 thrashing in Edinburgh as Craig Brown and Archie Knox prepared to take control.

Since then, the veteran duo have facilitated a gradual turnaround in Aberdeen's fortunes. Eight wins and a draw from the 14 matches in all competitions since that demoralising day at Tynecastle offer proof of how managerial experience can pay off. Talk at Pittodrie is now of top-six qualification, which is in stark contrast to the relegation battle which looked on the cards before Christmas.

The Dons go into tomorrow's clash on the back of a 5-0 win over fourth-placed Kilmarnock last weekend and a midweek victory over Hamilton so will be keen to make it three in a row.

"Craig Brown has boosted confidence because that was maybe a little bit low," said McNamee. "It's not a drastically new Aberdeen team but it's a team with a different mentality and a different attitude. We're looking to win the game. It's at our ground so we want to keep our run going as much as we can. You want to take three points every time you play. The fact we haven't managed to get a result against Hearts this season is something the boys want to change."

The influence of Knox and Brown is well-documented but there is a former Hearts idol at Pittodrie who has been equally pivotal to the recent upturn. Paul Hartley had the opportunity to rejoin Hearts last summer but could not agree to the terms proposed by majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov.

"Any team is going to benefit from having the experience Paul has got. I'm not sure about the reasons he wanted to come here instead of Hearts but it's to his credit that he's trying to help Aberdeen perform at a higher level," said McNamee.

"He welcomed me to the club as soon as I walked through the front door. I'm a lad who likes to get in early and Paul's the same, so we always arrive at the ground about the same time. He's always there to lend his experience and he's played at the highest level internationally and down south.

"He's one that a lot of the young boys can learn from and it feels good having that experience around you on the pitch."

Taken from the Scotsman