Hearts summer camp is no holiday for kids

Published on Tuesday 7 July 2009 10:10

RECEPTION staff at Barsinghausen's elegant Sporthotel Fuchsbachtal would be forgiven for doing a double take last night. It was not a party of high school kids on an end-of-term break who darkened their door, but the first-team squad of Heart of Midlothian.

The club arrived at their pre-season base 30 kilometres west of Hannover with possibly their youngest-ever group of players for a summer tour. Lee Wallace, Calum Elliot, Ryan McGowan, Jamie MacDonald, Arvydas Novikovas, Jason and Craig Thomson – all could pass for adolescents seeking to release some post-exam tension.

However, they are entrusted with the task of forming "new Hearts". A Hearts seeking to thrive without influential and experienced figures like Bruno Aguiar, Christos Karipidis, Robbie Neilson and Christophe Berra. Leading them into the lobby of the football-dedicated complex in Lower Saxony was Michael Stewart, the favourite for the captaincy following Neilson's departure. That he, at 28, is the squad's oldest player indicates the youthfulness of those currently at manager Csaba Laszlo's disposal.

This is precisely how Vladimir Romanov wants it. The majority shareholder's focus is on rearing young talent and honing it before selling it for nothing less than true market value. Laszlo and his coaching staff have an extravagance of raw material to work with thanks to the club's productive youth academy. And, of course, securing apt financial compensation for a blossoming footballer is an area Romanov specialises in. The youngsters at Hearts will, if nothing else, grow up quickly, which is why so many have been taken to Germany.

Augmented by recent signings such as Ian Black, Spanish winger Suso and Polish defender Dawid Kucharski, they face German regional league side Goslar SC 08 this evening in their first match of season 2009-10. It's a time for prodigies to showcase their exuberance, and for more established faces to shoulder greater responsibility with a Europa League play-off tie looming next month.

"This squad is very young now," said Ruben Palazuelos, the 26-year-old Spanish midfielder. "Michael Stewart and me are experienced, but in Europe it's not possible for me to talk about experience because I don't have any. I hope that playing other teams on the tour will help everybody."

"I think the squad is together, we have young players and some older players like Stewart and Marius Zaliukas," said Laszlo. "If you think that Stewart is the oldest player, we are like a kindergarten."

After Goslar SC comes the Polish side Slask Wroclaw tomorrow evening, followed by St Pauli on Friday and Alemannia Aachen on Sunday. "The manager and the other people organised four games for this trip, I'm not sure if this is good or not. It's the first time for me because at other teams I always trained for a week or ten days before the first (pre-season] game. Next week, I will tell you if it's good for me and for everybody," laughed Palazuelos.

"Last season was an important season, a very good season for Hearts because we achieved Europe. We have had five weeks holiday, the people have changed their mentality and everything is better. I hope next season can be even better.

"I think this trip is a good thing for everybody, for the football and for the manager. For me it will be good experience because this season will be my first time playing in Europe. I think playing other teams from different countries with different styles is useful, so we will see what happens when we play in the Europa League.

"I am very happy and excited to be playing in Europe. We want to start the season well. We have Dundee United in the first game and then it is the European match."

Palazuelos cuts a reassuring presence amongst the youngsters surrounding him, for he appears tailor-made to fill the midfield void left by Aguiar and Karipidis. "Bruno and Kari were good players, but them leaving is good for me," he continued. "I like competition. Ian Black has come in, he is also a good player so I will only be training and leave the decision to the manager. I think competition is good for everybody."

With three new trialists arriving in Barsinghausen, competition is on the increase. David Witteveen, the Austrian striker formerly of Red Bull Salzburg, is hoping to earn a permanent contract, while the Lithuanian pair Marius Cinikas and Vytautas Luksa are eager to impress Laszlo and his fellow coaches. Cinikas, a 23-year-old right-sided midfielder, underwent a trial period at Riccarton in January but failed to secure a deal. Some are entitled to question his return under similar circumstances but Laszlo, pictured below, is determined to have the final say on who is fit to don a maroon shirt.

One notable omission from Hearts' travelling party was Andy Driver, the 21-year-old having been granted two weeks extra holiday following his exertions with England at the European Under-21 Championship. As he recuperates, English Premier League newcomers Burnley are probing Romanov and his cohorts in an attempt to negotiate a transfer. Short of slapping a "not for sale" sign on the player's head, Laszlo is not up for any discussion on the matter.

"Andy needs a two-week holiday. He was at the European Championship, he played one game and now it's important for him to get some holidays," said the manager. "I am still sure he will be our player next year. At the moment, you have a lot of questions but I think Driver is a player who maybe needs one year more with us.

"He must grow in the game, he must learn the game. He played very well last year and I am happy about his performances. I think Andy, with the kind of football he plays, is always interesting for every team. My job as manager is to build up and to give him the chance to get a great club, or a better club. I am confident that after we come back from Germany we can meet him and see what happens. Our intention is to keep the squad together.

"Every player must decide about his future himself but Andy knows what he has at Heart of Midlothian. He knows we must help him to achieve more but at the moment I only think about helping Andy Driver and he can help us. The competition is very high in our team, we have young players behind like Novikovas, who is a talented player. We have David Obua on the left side, who I think will be better every day.

"On the right side we have Larry Kingston, who, if he is 100 per cent fit, can play. We now have Suso, who is similar to Andy Driver. David Templeton got injured on Sunday and did not make the journey to Germany but we have big competition in every position.

"Driver has the possibility to show his talent but nobody has a free card to stay in the first eleven. In midfield we have Michael Stewart, Ruben Palazuelos and Adrian Mrowiec – three players who can play in one position. In central defence we have Jose Goncalves, a new player who can also play on the left side. We also have Dawid Kucharski, a new central defender and maybe we must do something in this area to get another new player in. Kucharski was captain of Poland Under-21s, he has international experience but he is still young. We also have Marius Zaliukas. Up front we have Christian Nade, Calum Elliot and the player from Red Bull Salzburg who will be on trial. He trained with (former Salzburg coach) Giovanni Trappattoni in the first team. He is talented and we will see what happens. We have Gary Glen and I think in the striker position we can do something. Susa played in La Liga in Spain and has good experience. In the next two or three days we can close the squad."

As he embarked upon a second season in charge of Hearts, Laszlo again underlined his willingness to co-operate with Romanov and fit into the model for Hearts' future. He would like to improve the squad further (which manager wouldn't?) but yelling down the phone to someone in Kaunas is not his style.

"I don't run to the board to ask for money. This is not okay," he said. "Football is a business and the football club must be healthy. If you are not healthy and you run always to somebody to give you money and you don't produce (players], you die. This is my opinion and this is our philosophy.

"If we can qualify for the Europa League, we can see what happens until January. It is important to have a plan. Look at last year, you see the philosophy of the club. We would like to produce talented players and build a team that is competitive in the league. But we must bring new players and, if possible, sell some players to have money. This is not easy.

"If you want to be great – we can talk about Barcelona and Bayern Munich and others – all these clubs grew slowly with a very clear plan. They did not only buy, buy, buy. Chelsea are going in the right direction, they not only buy but they sell. This is reality.

"I am still here. My name was brought into the media with a connection to a lot of clubs but I am still here. I feel the board and the players are with me and behind me. I have a contract for two years more and I would definitely like to stay here to achieve something. This is a great club, we have potential to grow. If you have the possibility to grow, why run away? You must work, give something to the supporters and give some future to the players.

"I did not have a holiday this year but I know that holiday is not always the most important thing. The most important thing is to have a team on the field."

JAMBOS' OPPONENTS ON THE UP

By CAMERON SCOTT

GOSLAR SC 08 provide Hearts with their first pre-season test tonight.

The club play in Germany's Lower Saxony in the Regionalliga, which is the fourth tier of German football, after being promoted from the Oberliga last season.

Goslar, who also have hockey, athletic and archery teams, will play their home games next season at Eintracht Braunschweig's Eintracht Stadion as their own Osterfeldstadion – where they host Hearts tonight – has a capacity of just 6,000 and fails to meet the criteria of the DFB (German Football Association).