Hearts 1 Inverness 0

“Good football is nothing, nice football is nothing, success is the key”, said Csaba Laszlo in Friday’s pre-match press conference, and that pretty much sums up the ninety minutes. In fact, they could easily be mistaken for words spoken after the match.

A seventh minute goal perhaps suggested that Hearts would go on to win the match comfortably but a sparse second period performance allowed Inverness to dominate the half, without taking advantage.

It was Miko who provided the goal when he raced onto Audrius Ksanavicius’ through ball after Caley captain Grant Munro failed to get his head on a long punt from Kello.

Hearts had their Slovakian goalkeeper to thank for a commanding performance, which ensured a first clean sheet for the team in the league this season.

He was exceptionally quick of his line for two of Caley’s chances in the first half - one to block a shot from Phil McGuire, the other to take the ball from the feet of Andy Barrowman - to clean up the occasional lapse from his back four.

A save from a low McBain effort after he found himself free in the box wrapped up an impressive performance from Kello, who looks as if he could turn out to be a real capture for Csaba.

The team defended well on the whole, although Wallace still seems the weak link at left back. Ruben Palazuelos was brought on for Miko towards the end of the match to offer the Scotland under-21 international more protection.

However, the main problem was the team’s inability to retain possession during the second half, which allowed Inverness to pile on the pressure. Not only were we second to every ball, the forwards were unable to hold the ball up for any period of time.

Hopefully Tullberg will be the man to help solve this problem.

Mole lacks the ability to score enough goals and there will come a point where hard work just isn’t good enough. As for Ksanavicius, his first touch was horrendous and most of the time his second touch was a sliding tackle.

Even Nade, when he came on, didn’t make much of a contribution.

Another Scotland call-up may beckon for Mikey Stewart if he continues this early season form and he was once again one of the stand out performers. He was terribly unlucky when he attempted to lob Fraser with a first half volley and pulled the strings in midfield for the first half.

Miko was another who I was really impressed with this week. He took his goal well and looked the most likely to create more. An extended run in the team could finally see him hit the form we have been waiting for and I would be happy to see him and Driver, when he is fit, lining up on either wing.

But the best man on the park, in a Hearts jersey at least, was Kello. If it wasn’t for him we could have easily been 1-0 down early in the match and, on our overall performance, I’m not convinced we would have recovered. He commanded his area well and caught everything that came near him. He even came ten yards off his line in the last few minutes to catch an Inverness throw.

Many were critical that Kello was just another Kaunas dud and that Banks was a safer option but he is slowly proving himself to be a solid keeper.

In the post-match interview, Csaba claimed that if your team wins every match 1-0 then everyone is happy. Even though I am happy we have extended our 100% home record, I’m not sure if I could bear watching a performance like that every week.

Before Saturday’s match Falkirk were bottom of the league with no points. In fact they were the only team in the four Scottish divisions not to have chalked up any points so far. So with Hearts being Hearts, we allowed them their first win and points of the season.

Despite our impressive start, and Falkirk’s dismal one, the Bairns must still have known that this was a great chance to finally get off the mark. Even with Hearts’ proneness to fail in situations such as these notwithstanding, Falkirk away has never been a fixture we look forward to. Since 1992, in all competitions, Hearts have only managed two wins in thirteen attempts.

Moving from Brockville to the Falkirk stadium during this period, it seems, has done nothing to reverse this trend. But surely there has to be more of a reason than: ‘Falkirk away is one of our bogey fixtures’.

John Hughes is a former Hibs player and, in recent years, his added determination to get one over his old rivals may have filtered down to his players come match day. However, if this were the case, then surely Falkirk would have a better record against us at Tynecastle – since Hughes became manager, Falkirk have never won in against Hearts in Gorgie.

Another argument put forward by some is that there has been no real progress under Csaba Laszlo and the victories so far this season - three wins in five – display nothing more than the club’s ability to paper over the cracks.

I believe this argument fallacious for a number of reasons.

To begin with, two of the matches in which we have recorded victories, we have been pegged back and still gone on to win. On the opening day of the season, Motherwell drew level with less than ten minutes of the ninety remaining. In our next home fixture, against St Mirren, we were leading until the 70th minute when the visitors equalised with their first attempt on target.

In both of these instances we managed to grind out a win, a mentality that was rarely on display during the previous campaign.

In the last two seasons, Hearts have also found it difficult against the newly promoted sides. Last year we only managed one win in four attempts against Gretna, while the season before we failed to beat St Mirren at all over three matches. We have already beaten this year’s new-boys Hamilton away, their first defeat on their home turf since April last year.

Our start to the season compared to last is another reason for believing that things have actually improved under Csaba. After five matches we were sitting ninth with five points and had just recorded our first win of the season. The previous four matches had included a 1-1 draw at home to Gretna and a 5-0 thrashing by Celtic.

Currently we sit fifth (or joint fourth on points) with nine points, only one off second and four off the top. Hardly remarkable progress but steady nonetheless.

On top of this we are playing better football. There are still some weak links in the side but at least the team is trying to pass the ball about and retain possession a bit more.

Mole is not the answer in attack; he did make a decent start to the season, but he has so far been the only fully fit option available to Csaba. Nade still isn’t 100%, Tullberg is injured and Glen has himself only just recovered.

Despite the deficiencies of our attack we have still managed eight goals so far and statistically you would think that it is the defence that needs tightening up if anything. Left back Lee Wallace can be faulted for three or four goals this season, including Falkirk’s opener at the weekend, which came after only three minutes.

He has ability and potential to be better but for the moment he needs a few weeks on the sidelines. The trouble we have is that there doesn’t seem to be anyone else competing for his position. Csaba said, while the transfer window was open, that full backs were needed because we had began the season with two young players in these positions and when they are not playing well they need to be taken out before their confidence suffers too much. However, no full backs were brought in and Wallace is costing us in most matches.

At the beginning of August I did say that the most important thing for me this season was turning Tynecastle back into a place where other teams didn’t pick up too many points. At this stage last season we had taken only one point from two home games against Hibs and Gretna. So far this season we have taken maximum points from our two home fixtures.

I admit that not everything is rosy at the moment but there are signs of improvement. The squad is still quite thin in places and other than Obua, Tullberg, Mrowiec, Kello, Balogh and McDonald - the latter three of are these goalkeepers and two of the five are currently injured -, Csaba is working, and has already shown some progress, with the same squad of players.

Half way through the season will of course give us a better indication of how well the team is actually doing but for now it seems that Csaba has steadied the ship and has us not only playing better football but winning matches we wouldn’t have done last season. With the exception of Falkirk away.

Driver will be missed most after an impressive start to the season – he managed a goal and an assist in the most recent victory over Hamilton.

Despite these absentees, Csaba still has quite a few options available to him. Miko was on the bench last week and will almost certainly start tomorrow, either on the right or the left wing. Ksanavicius prefers a role just off the striker but could be asked to fill in for Driver on the left.

Other options include Gary Glen, although playing him would probably mean a change of system as I am not sure him or Mole would be suited to playing in the hole with the other as a lone striker. Christian Nade could play just behind Mole in attack, although it is likely he wouldn’t be able to last the whole match.

So the team for tomorrow could look something like this:

Kello

Jonsson Zaliukas Berra Wallace

Kingston Stewart Karipidis Mikoliunas

Ksanavicius

Mole

After a good start to the season, Hearts travel to the Falkirk Stadium tomorrow. With Rangers entertaining Kilmarnock at Ibrox tomorrow, we know a win would take us into the top two with one of our own trips to Ibrox already out of the way.

The international break came at a bad time for Csaba Laszlo, who has already stated that with so little time to prepare, it will be difficult to prepare the team and continue the momentum, which has seen his side take nine points from a possible twelve so far this season.

The most worrying thing for me, however, is that Falkirk are bottom with no points. This usually means that we are likely to give them their first point(s).

Last season when we visited Inverness, they were bottom of the league with no points after six games played. We surrendered a 1-0 lead and finally went down 2-1. Two weeks ago St Mirren were one of only two sides in Scotland still not to have scored and, as I predicted, they got their first against us. It remains the only goal they have scored in the league this season.

There are many other examples of this type of thing over recent years and I hope that we can buck the trend and get the result we really should be getting on Saturday.

Falkirk were many people’s tip, including mine, to break into the top six this year after some impressive signings. However, a poor start, not helped by the amount of injuries, has left them looking to get some points on the board before they can even think about going on to the “next level” – a favourite phrase of manager John Hughes.

Falkirk are often praised for their willingness to play a slick passing game but this has sometimes contributed to the team’s downfall as good football doesn’t always bring success. With the resources available to Hughes he would maybe be better off with a more direct approach with two banks of four, taking a ’safety first’ appraoch.

In saying that, a fully fit Falkirk squad, even with his preferred 4-1-3-2 formation, would cause most teams in the division problems but the casualty list is still pretty long going into tomorrow’s match.

Burton O’Brien, Thomas Scobbie and Steve Lovell are all on the road to recovery, they all appeared as substitutes against Inverness and could feature again on Saturday. Neil McCann, who struggled with injury for almost his entire second spell at Hearts is allegedly on his way back, although I will believe this when I see it.

Hearts have their own injury problems to worry about and it seems that new signing Mike Tullberg’s thigh problem is worse than first thought. He is currently seeking help in his homeland and it is not know when he will be available. Robbie Neilson has undergone an operation and has targeted a November return; Bruno Aguiar will be ready for the reserves soon.

The invisible man, Mirsad Beslija, has yet again picked up an injury and will be at least another month. Honestly, I have given up hope on this boy!

So it should be more of the same in terms of team selection for Hearts. New signing Adrian Mrowiec could be in contention after missing the birth of his child to play in a closed door match against St Johnstone, although he may have to get in the queue of central midfielders at the club already.

He is a defensive midfielder and since we have been playing a centre half – Karipidis – in this position, he may find himself in the team sooner rather than later. Ruben Palazuelos, who has sat patiently on the bench this season, must be wondering if he will get many chances this season and when Aguiar is fit Csaba will have a tough time keeping everyone happy.

Although Hearts have had the better of the Falkirk since their promotion in 2005, the Falkirk Stadium hasn’t provided the Hearts support with the most memorable occasions. In the five visits since Falkirk moved to their new home we have only won their once, with the Bairns winning two and the other two ending in draws.

They also got the better of us last season, culminating in a lacklustre display which ended in a 2-1 defeat.

This season we are more organised and more dangerous going forward. Driver and Stewart are on form, Mole will work the centre halfs and Kello had made an impressive start – even for someone on loan from Kaunas.

Falkirk have some exciting young players in Scott Arfield and Mark Stewart but they look incredibly weak defensively and if we perform, we should be heading back to Tynecastle with another three points. ‘mon the Hearts!!

And another thing…

The transfer window closed with failed, late attempts attempts to bring Derek Riordan and Alan Gow in on loan, with both agreeing moves to other clubs instead. Riordan opted for city rivals Hibs, the team he moved to Celtic from, for more than double what the Champions paid for him two years ago.

So, his career has been set back two years after he languished in the Celtic reserves, obviously not favoured by Gordon Strachan even though the little ginger one mentioned at one point last season that he could have done with a few extra strikers?? Further to this, Celtic have made a profit and have apparently secured a sell-on fee, should Riordan decide to desert his beloved club once again.

That is not even to mention the off-field baggage he comes with and the fact that half of the Hearts support would have been on his back if he didn’t start performing from the off. We probably could have done with another striker but we still have Tullberg and Nade to return to full fitness.

In the end I am glad we didn’t sign him.

Well quite a bit has happened since I’ve been away. Two wins in the league and a penalty defeat to our serial bogey team Airdrie in the League Cup. You have to go back to 1992 to find the last time we defeated the North Lanarkshire club and even though they have been in the divisions below us for most of that time, three semi-final trips to Hampden still stand out as some of the worst memories in recent times.

I listened to the most recent encounter as Hearts once again pressed for that unobtainable victory. When I heard Lee Wallace’s name mentioned during the penalty shootout I just knew he was going to miss. It’s a shame for the guy, who is already under pressure from some of the boo-boys at Tynecastle for his relatively poor start to the season. New goalkeeper Marian Kello then bailed him out by saving one of Airdrie’s next two penalties and it was up to another new boy, David Obua, to score and take the game into sudden death.

I have since seen the highlights and Obua has no one to blame but himself. I have always cringed when players stand over a spot kick and think they can put it away by only taking a couple of steps and this is what he thought he could do. John Robertson and Peter Beardsley, amongst many others, were two that used to run from outside the box and they scored the vast majority of their penalties. Taking a longer run-up makes it more difficult for the goalkeeper to guess which way the ball is going.

Or maybe Obua was never going to score anyway due to the curse that descends upon us when we take on Airdrie. I guess that Diamonds always trump Hearts.

The League Cup aside, the team’s league position after the two recent wins against St Mirren and Hamilton give some cause for optimism. The wins were by no means emphatic but wins are wins and we are now sitting in third place, with one trip to Ibrox out of the way, and we had scored more goals than any other team until Rangers hammered Celtic in the first Old Firm of the season.

Despite this, there are still grumbles that we need a striker. This may be true, although according to the stats you would think we needed a defender. Transfer deadline deals for Derek Riordan and Alan Gow fell through as they decided to opt for Hibs and Blackpool respectively, but we still have Mike Tullberg recovering from injury and time will tell if he can provide the firepower in attack.

The passing of the transfer window deadline prompted Hearts to state on their website that Christos Karipidis will be staying after speculation linking him with a move back home to Greece. Although usually a central defender, Karipidis has started all five matches in the centre of midfield. He has done quite well but I wonder whether Csaba Laszlo prefers Zaliukas and Berra in defence and wanted to give Karipidis games to ensure he remained at the club. Either that or he doesn’t see him as a central defender and has stumbled upon a position that suits him better.

Just as strange was to see Eggert Jonsson at full back. Again, with being away I have only managed to see highlights of the recent matches (a paltry 2mins 47 were provided by the BBC for the Hamilton match – when are we going to get a decent highlights package for the SPL?) but I understand he has done quite well. This could turn out to be a master stroke from Csaba, who has obviously realised that we are weak at full back. Jason Thomson started the season well but is pretty much useless at going forward.

Karipidis could drop back and play as a third central defender at times during matches to allow full backs Jonsson and Wallace to push forward and support the wingers. Wallace is too poor defensively to be a full back but there are no other options so it will be interesting to see if Csaba decides to focus on his strengths and get him forward as often as possible.

The World Cup Qualifiers begin this week so no match to preview but well done to Michael Stewart for again making his way into the Scotland squad to face Macedonia in the soaring heat, albeit after six players pulled out injured. He came on as a sub against Northern Ireland and didn’t look out of place apart from one stray pass; in fact I think he had a better game than Darren Fletcher did that night. ‘mon Scotland!!

just to let you all know that I am going away tomorrow, therefore I will not be writing for the next 12 days or so.

hurtafly

Since Craig Gordon was made Britain’s most expensive goalkeeper, between the sticks has caused much debate amongst the Hearts support. Steve Banks has always been seen as a reliable pair of hands but the Gorgie faithful have had to put up with a certain element of rotation and some cringe worthy performances from the likes of Anthony Basso and Eduardas Kurskis.

After this season’s opening day win against Motherwell, Banks found himself to be the only change in the starting XI to face Rangers the following week. The arrival of Marian Kello from Kaunas meant, according to the club, that Banks was now to concentrate on his coaching. Scotland under-21 goalkeeper Jamie McDonald made his debut in place of Banks at Ibrox but now the noises coming out of Tynecastle suggest that yet another goalkeeping change is to be made to the line up this week, with Kello set for a debut.

The only chances I have had to see the Slovakian play was in his former club’s two-legged tie against Rangers in the Champions League qualifiers. He didn’t have too much to do but made one or two good saves. One of note came towards the end of the 0-0 draw at Ibrox from a Kenny Miler shot. I hope the Hearts support gets behind him tomorrow and doesn’t boo him just because of his Kaunas connection. If he is poor, then he is poor and we will soon find out but it would be unfair to criticise him before he has even touched the ball.

Fellow new signing David Obua is fit and ready to make his debut. Whether he starts or not is unsure. Able to play left back, in midfield and behind the striker, if he is as good as Csaba Laszlo rates him to be then he should have no problem establishing himself as a first team regular. Lee Wallace has had a poor start to the season, while Ksanavicius has had his good performance for the season. An alternative option would be to drop Kingston, who has been at fault for two goals in as many weeks, move Driver to the Right of midfield and play Obua on the left. With our lack of a goal threat I would prefer him behind Mole in attack, although I admit I have never seen him play.

Neilson, Beslija and Aguiar are all on the road to recovery but this match will come too soon for all of them. Most of these players have been out long-term and are probably still weeks away from first team action. Mike Tullberg, who signed last week and although not fully fit, may find himself on the bench.

As for the visitors, their poor form towards the end of last season has continued into this campaign. They have now gone five matches without a win and have not scored in any of these. Their away form makes for even more worrying reading for their support as they have failed to win away from Love Street in eleven matches. Coincidentally their last away win was a victory at Tynecastle in December of last year, when Stephen McGinn scored the only goal of the game.

The Paisley side will be buoyed by their impressive record against Hearts, especially at Tynecastle, since their promotion two years ago; managing two wins and a draw over this period.

St Mirren welcome back defender Will Haining from suspension after his contentious red card against Celtic on the opening weekend of the season. However, he may have a tough time regaining his place in the side due to Scott Cuthbert’s man of the match performance in his absence during the 0-0 draw at home to Kilmarnock last week. Franco Miranda, one of St Mirren’s better performers last season, picked up a knock in the same match but should recover in time. Craig Dargo has begun training again but looks set to miss out.

The only other injury worry for St Mirren is goalkeeper Chris Smith, although Mark Howard made some excellent saves and kept a clean sheet last week, therefore Smith will not be missed too much.

Against Celtic, St Mirren played a 4-5-1 with Billy Mehmet up top but they reverted to a 4-4-2 in the following Kilmarnock clash.  Although they probably won’t show Hearts the same respect as they did Celtic, 4-5-1 will likely be Gus MacPherson’s preferred formation as he attempts to frustrate the home side. He will know that the longer the game stays goalless the more the match could swing in his side’s favour. He has quite a few strikers to choose from but Jim Hamilton’s lack of mobility will probably work against him. Mehmet has similar strength to Hamilton and is usually the manager’s choice when playing a single striker; MacPherson also has new signings Dennis Wyness and Tom Brighton as options.

Despite who leads the line the main threat comes from midfield. Andy Dorman has the ability, and the willingness, to get beyond the forwards and managed five goals for St Mirren between January and the end of last season. A lot of positive things have been said about new signing, and fellow midfielder, Tonet, although he may take time to adapt to the Scottish game.

This should, I stress should, be a home victory on Saturday, despite St Mirren’s record at Tynecastle in recent years. The Paisley club have not made a terrible start to the season – they hit the post against Celtic before conceding a dodgy penalty – but the longer they go without scoring this season, the more the pressure will mount.

One thing lacking at Hearts in recent seasons is a good home record. During the 2005/06 season, and few years previous to that, Hearts had an excellent record at Tynecastle, especially against teams outside the Old Firm. Re-establishing an impressive home record is something I see as a priority for this season after watching many terrible draws and defeats against teams such as Inverness, Falkirk, Kilmarnock and St Mirren.

For me, the first match of the season doesn’t really say too much about where a team is in terms of form, anything can happen. Tomorrow will be the first real test of whether Tynecastle has been restored to the fortress it once was. ‘mon the Hearts!!

Possible line-ups

Hearts:

Kello

Thomson Zaliukas Berra Wallace

Kingston Stewart Palazuelos Driver

Obua

Mole

St Mirren:

Howard

Ross Cuthbert Porter Miranda

McGinn Brady Murray Dorman O’Donnell

Mehmet

The so-called ‘hat kickers’ were given further reason to vent their anger when it was claimed in yesterday’s Edinburgh Evening News that Romanov entered the Hearts dressing room at full time after the match on Saturday to tell the team why the, until now, first choice goalkeeper Steve Banks had been dropped for the encounter.

“Banks cannot be trusted, same as [Steven] Pressley could not be trusted, same as [Andy] Webster could not be trusted”, Romanov supposedly said. The quote is attributed to the Russian-born Lithuanian businessman but I was unaware journalists were able to sit in dressing rooms waiting for a scoop.

Of course it is possible a player who was present has informed the reporter in question and the words do sound Romanov-esque but until it is confirmed or denied by Hearts and/or Banks himself, the truth of the post-match events will not be known.

The silence displayed by the Tynecastle club in their refusal to comment when asked about events after the match on Saturday, could possibly be an indication that some sort of fall out between Banks and Romanov did occur.

Not long after manager Csaba Laszlo was appointed he identified signing a goalkeeper and a striker as a priority. At the time Banks was involved in a dual role as player and coach and Csaba pointed out that he “must know what his job is”. The arrival of Kello paved the way for Banks to concentrate on his coaching, although he is apparently disappointed with, what he sees as a demotion to Youth team goalkeeping coach.

All seemed normal to me when Banks was dropped for the match on Saturday, as we had been informed that he would not be continuing as a player coach once a goalkeeper was signed.

If what is claimed in the Evening News is true it is a bitter disappointment that Romanov is once again sticking his nose in, not so long after promising that Csaba would be given full control of first team affairs. If he has a say in which players the club sign then fair enough, it is his money after all. If some sort of altercation between him and Banks has occured, that is fine also, people fall out in football, like they do at work, in business and day-to-day life. But why does Romanov feel the need to disrupt the mood amongst the players, which is still in the midst of patching itself up after a few seasons of turmoil and dressing room splits, by making stupid statements like what he has been quoted to have said?

We might never know what really happened. Or maybe we just need to wait a few days until Banks is punted and gives his side of the story.

Of all people, Miko should know better. The man who was nationally chastised after his dive that earned Lithuania a penalty against Scotland in a World Cup qualifier last year, was again caught in the act at Ibrox today, only a matter of minutes after taking to the field.

He went on to receive a second yellow card within minutes of his first for a late tackle on Rangers’ Kenny Miller. A genuine attempt for the ball was made, nonetheless, a player on a booking should not be diving into tackles the way he did, unless needs must. The challenge took place in the centre circle and his side were in no immediate danger at the time.

Before the penalty incident involving his national team, Miko was never a favourite amongst the Hearts support, and since then he has been every other team’s favourite boo-boy. This actually worked in his favour and endeared him to the Hearts support as they leapt to the defence of one of their own.

When this season began, it was a fresh start for everyone involved at Tynecastle and some, including myself, thought that this could be the season we finally get the best out of him. This may still materialise but he done himself no favours with his antics today.

We were not causing Rangers, who by now were happy to sit back and hit us on the break, many problems with eleven men on the field and the red card meant the hard working Jamie Mole was sacrificed, leaving the unfit Christian Nade up front on his own.

There was one moment of panic amongst the home support as the ball fell to Andy Driver around the penalty spot. His volley was heading towards the target when Madjid Bougherra blocked the ball with his arm. As we all know by now, getting a penalty against Rangers at Ibrox is as likely as a democratic Zimbabwe and true to form referee Stuart Dougall waved away the protests.

Of course Rangers went up the other end and the first sniff they had at a penalty it was awarded. Kris Boyd stepped up and scored to give his side a 2-0 injury time lead. To be fair it probably was a foul, even though Lee Wallace got a slight touch on the ball somewhere in between brining down Miller in the box; although I would like to see the incident again.

It’s easy to blame officials when things don’t go for you and if Dougall had pointed to the spot, rather than pretending he didn’t see it, and the subsequent spot kick was converted, then it would have been a draw Hearts probably didn’t deserve. I said before the match that we lacked quality in attack and I think it showed over the 90 minutes. Kingston and Driver were poor and, where he looked reasonably comfotable last week, Karipidis looked lost in central midfield.

We were up against a poor Rangers team today. Granted, they were lifted by the signing of Pedro Mendes and by the promising start Kyle Lafferty - who scored the opening goal of the game - has made to his Rangers career. This is a side on which the pressure would have mounted had we taken the game to them early on; but we didn’t.

Not to worry, however, because the way the league table works here we will probably get two more opportunities to take on Rangers and the officials at Ibrox this season.

Rangers began their SPL campaign with an unconvincing 1-0 victory away to Falkirk, in which goalkeeper Allan McGregor saved a penalty to keep the score at 0-0. They are now under pressure from their disgruntled support to deliver the league title and a home defeat this early in the season would surely spark protest against the David Murray, who has grown increasingly unpopular in recent years.

Earlier this week Rangers signed 19-year-old Spanish midfielder Aaron Niguez Esclapez on-loan from Valencia but it is unlikely he will be thrown into the starting lineup. At the time of writing Portsmouth midfielder was discussing personal terms with the Ibrox side, after the English Premiership club accepted a £3m bid. I am not sure whether he will sign in time to go into the squad for tomorrow but he could be the answer to Rangers’ midfield problems. Lee McCulloch has been deployed as a central midfielder in the previous three matches and has not adapted very well.

Other areas where Rangers are weak are in the wings and in central defence. Kyle Lafferty, naturally a striker, started on the left last week and was one of the few plus points in the Rangers attack. He will likely find himself in this position often, at least until players like Chris Burke and Steven Naismith return from injury. DaMarcus Beasley was on the bench for the Falkirk clash and could be brought in on the right, allowing Steven Whittaker to return to right back.

As for the defence, Christian Dailly has not been up to standard so far but could be moved into central midfield to protect the defence, should manager Walter Smith opt for his favoured 4-5-1 formation. Kirk Broadfoot is likely to play alongside Madjid Bougherra in central defence and between Broadfoot’s lack of pace and Bougherra’s inexperience of the SPL, Hearts will surely create some chances tomorrow.

One interesting subplot will be Andrius Velicka appearing against Hearts for the first time since he left the club earlier in the year. The Lithuanian was about to be substituted when he scored the only goal of last week’s game and could find himself on the bench with the return of Kenny Miller. However, if he is a substitute I am sure he will play some part in the fixture.

Despite Rangers’ poor start to the season and selection problems, Hearts’ record at Ibrox doesn’t make for pleasant reading for their supporters. They have failed to win any of their last eight SPL matches at Ibrox, which includes one draw, and have only scored twice in the last six encounters at the venue. You have to go back to May 2004 for the last time Hearts recorded a victory there, when Joe Hamill scored in a 1-0 win.

Yesterday Hearts announced that goalkeeper Marian Kello had signed and will arrive in Edinburgh today, immediately going into the squad for the match on tomorrow. The 25-year-old Slovakian played both legs against Rangers and the more recent Champions League qualifier against Danish side Aalborg. The signing signals the end of the club’s interest in Hungarian goalkeeper Janos Balogh. This is the first of Csaba Laszlo’s signings that will split opinion amongst the Hearts support. Did Csaba personally pick out Kello? Or is this just a sign that things behind the scenes have not changed and that Romanov still has a say on matters, such as signing targets?

Many have made the trip from Kaunas to Tynecastle, others via the Lithuanian city from other clubs, but signing a goalkeeper from Kaunas evokes one memory amongst Hearts fans: Eduardas Kurskis’ fumble in the last few minutes, coincidentally against Rangers at Ibrox, which handed the Glasgow outfit a 2-1 victory.

The acquisition of Danish forward Michael Tullberg was also announced this week. He has signed on a one-year loan deal from Italian outfit Reggina, a club he moved to from Aarhus for a fee of around £800,000 last year but failed to settle there. The transfer fee alone suggests that the 22-year-old possesses some quality, and his age that he may not have reached his full potential yet. Hearts need a target man and the tall, powerful forward may just be the man we are looking for. Unfortunately, he has still to recover from the injury he picked up while on trial during pre-season but begin training again next week. This means that Jamie Mole is likely to retain his place in the starting line up, although he may have done so anyway, after an impressive performance against Motherwell.

Csaba’s first signing for the club, David Obua, will also not be in the squad for the match at Ibrox. After being granted a work permit, Obua and the club are still working on the necessary paperwork to finalise the deal. We will now have to wait at least another week to see the Ugandan international. He seems the most exciting prospect out of the three new boys, after turning down West Ham and Chievo Verona and instead opting for Tynecastle. He also picked up a number of awards at his previous club, South Africa’s Kaiser Chiefs, annual awards ceremony.

I reckon Csaba will stick with the same side that won against Motherwell last week and he has already said to expect the same attacking approach. One player that may have played himself into contention is Saulius Mikoliunas, due to his stunning winner last week after coming on to replace Laryea Kingston. Another change could be Christos Karipidis dropping out for a more natural central defensive midfielder. Eggert Jonsson was an unused substitute last week and Ruben Palazuelos returns from suspension. Robbie Neilson, Mirsad Beslija and Bruno Aguiar join Tullberg on the injury list, as does Gary Glen, although he is back with the under-19s.

Hearts are not without their own frailties. Jason Thomson at right back could struggle up against Kyle Lafferty, while Marius Zaliukas, although possessing the required attributes, is prone to error. He was at fault for the first Motherwell goal last week despite his overall performance being quite impressive.

We are also quite light up front and lack any real height. Mole’s pace will cause Rangers problems but he doesn’t score enough goals. Another who doesn’t score, or for that matter perform, often enough is Audrius Ksanavicius. However, he has scored twice in the last two matches, which is almost as much as last season.

Where we do possess quality is in midfield. Should Michael Stewart turn in a similar performance to last week he will surely win the midfield battle and with two from Mikoliunas, Kingston and Andy Driver playing we have quality on the wings. But this leads me back to the lack of height up front. Kingston is capable of delivering quality crosses and Driver managed to put in a dangerous ball almost every time he received the ball against Motherwell. However, there wasn’t anyone on the end of most of these crosses as they flashed across the face of goal.

The manner in which Hearts perform tomorrow will be more important than the result. A draw would be a great result but there is a feeling of optimism, albeit cautious, around Tynecastle at the moment. There may be no better time to play Rangers and they are definitely there for the taking due to the unrest among the supporters and the pressure this causes. ˜mon the Hearts!!

Possible line ups

Hearts:

Banks

Karipidis/Thomson Zaliukas Berra Wallace

 Kingston Stewart Karipidis/Palazuelos Driver

 Ksanavicius

 Mole

Rangers:

McGregor

Whittaker Broadfoot Bougherra Papac

 Dailly

Beasley Mendes/McCulloch Thomson Lafferty

Miller