Hearts boss calls for patience in bid to raise fortunes

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 08:36

CSABA LASZLO today appealed for realism and patience from Hearts supporters while he attempts to improve the team's on-field fortunes.

The manager admitted some players are not delivering this season but stressed unity between pitch and stands is essential to reverse the current plight.

With Hearts two points off the foot of the SPL table following Saturday's home defeat by St Johnstone, Laszlo pondered whether some may have overly high expectations of his side following last season's third-place finish. He said criticism of players, while deserved in certain cases, is merely detrimental to his efforts.

He has yet to arrange a meeting with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov and his board of directors to discuss the recent downturn. Laszlo is willing to fly to Lithuania for talks if necessary but wants to discover the club hierarchy's vision for the future as soon as possible. In particular, he wishes to know if his intentions for January's transfer window are supported by the board.

Until he obtains clarity, he wants fans and players united for the cause. He said: "I try to do my best every day for the club. If you have a difficult time, you must be stronger to come through. For this I tell our supporters, with all my respect, please don't go against my captain. Please don't go against the players. We need you. If we make a mistake, we need each other.

"If you would like to have successful football, you must have a very clear structure and plan. With this team at the moment we can't be so successful as last season. We have lost too many captains.

"This is the truth. We can talk and talk and talk, but if you don't have the captains and the quality, you cannot wish to be better. You can wish to develop well and maybe next season you will have some good players. Maybe then you can expect more from the team.

"I have said that, with this team, the target must be the top six and to try to win something in the cup competitions. I said last season I wanted to try to make the third position and we did this for the fans and for everybody.

"Now we must think realistic. This season, if we can't score goals, we can't think about first or second. Everything is possible but not if you don't win games or score goals. If you don't win games when you have big opportunities you can't say, 'he made a mistake' or 'he is not good enough'. We must stick together.

"Maybe I must also recognise that some players are only there and they don't take this situation seriously. I have given so many chances for some players to help us, to help each other and to help the club. I think now it is time to recognise that we must go in a different way. I will do this and I hope that if the club sell players during the winter then we must bring in offensive players."

Asked whether he feared losing his job if results do not improve, Laszlo replied: "I don't like to talk about this before I have a conversation (with the board]. I will be thinking about everything but now is not the best time to speak about it."