Gary Mackay: Hearts duo should benefit from the added responsibility

Published on Monday 17 August 2009 09:43

EXPECTATIONS have really risen at Hearts recently as a result of their third-placed finish in the league last season and involvement in the Europa League.

But while it's great that everyone has got high hopes for the new season, it also means that teams will be that bit more determined to get one over on us.

We'll be seen as one of the teams to beat this season and Dundee United, who we play tonight, will be looking for a bit of revenge after last season.

They're a club that has had stability and has played well in recent seasons, yet they missed out altogether to Hearts (and Aberdeen) in the last campaign. They'll still be hurting about that, they had the European position in their grasp really until very late in the season so they will feel hard done by and will want to show that they should have been playing in the Europa League, and not us.

Hearts will really have to be on their guard because, not just at Tannadice, things as a whole will be harder for them this season.

Hearts fans might have to show a bit of patience because the manager went with the 4-5-1 formation for the majority of last season and I think that you might see him doing that again, particularly over the course of the next few games.

In the two away games, I certainly expect him to do that and you can't really blame him if he does set up that way.

It might not be the formation that the supporters want to see in terms of excitement and attacking opportunities but you have to accept what the manager does because he got success with that formation last season.

Some people look upon 4-5-1 as being a negative formation but Csaba used it last year and the manager and his players really made it work. You can't argue with the end result.

Two of the key players who can really make that formation work in Hearts' favour are new captain Michael Stewart and his vice-captain Marius Zaliukas.

Defenders are key to that kind of set-up because the onus is on them to push the team up the pitch and then, in the middle, Michael can not only close down the opposition but can press forward when the opportunity arises.

I think this season could really make those two players. The manager, in my opinion, has been very intelligent and this is a really clever move by him.

There have been questions about both players' temperaments and that's illustrated by the fact that Zaliukas is suspended for tonight's match. But the added responsibility that they have been given this season could be just what they need, there's maybe a bit of reverse psychology in there and I hope that they embrace the shared responsibility.

On another note, I have to say that I was disappointed that Lee Wallace didn't get a chance to play for Scotland last week – although I was probably relieved that he wasn't involved by the time the final whistle went.

Hindsight is a great thing in football of course but I think he deserved his chance, the level that he played to towards the end of last season and the progression that he has made in recent times should really have been enough to merit a place.

No disrespect to Callum Davidson but I think it was a backwards step to use him instead of looking to the younger boys because they are going to be the future of the game in this country.

It's about time that we brought in younger boys and fresher legs because the whole performance was hugely disappointing.

I thought Scotland played well up until Gary Caldwell's red card but, unfortunately, football matches don't last for 25 or 30 minutes and, when Norway scored their first goal, they just couldn't handle it.

Staff deserve praise for firefighters collection

WHILE everyone is caught up in the excitement and the buzz of the new season starting and the European games that we have got coming up, I'd like to take a minute out to applaud the staff of Heart of Midlothian.

Everyone at the club, and in particular Clare Cowan, has put in such a lot of work over the last few weeks to organise a collection that will be held before the Rangers game and will go towards the Firefighter's Charity.

I think that everyone was affected by the news of the death of firefighter Ewan Williamson in the fire at the Balmoral Bar on Dalry Road, which is just along from Tynecastle.

It was a terrible tragedy and one that really hit home. There will be lots of people out collecting on Sunday in the hour or so before kick-off against Rangers and I'm sure everyone will agree that it's a very worthy cause. These guys put themselves in danger for the likes of us every single day and it would be great to see supporters of both sides digging deep to help the fund.