Steven Naismith concedes Hearts could have created psychological complex against Rangers and Celtic

More chat emanates from Hearts about putting greater pressure on Scotland’s big two than any other club. Yet when actually sharing a pitch with Celtic or Rangers, few give a poorer account of themselves than the Tynecastle club.

Hearts manager Steven Naismith says his players' "decision-making" is being affected by the desire to deal with the club's expectation they should be able to make an impression against the Glasgow clubs.(Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

Only two years ago the Gorgie side’s sporting director Joe Savage talked about being “hell bent on being the best” in the country, which meant trying to stand up to Glasgow’s behemoths. In disposing of Robbie Neilson in April, chief executive Andrew McKinlay suggested the club’s next manager should be targeting posing a greater challenge to the pair. A month after Hearts defender Kyle Rowles claimed there were signs they were closing the gap in such encounters. The runaround that Celtic gave Hearts last weekend in an excruciatingly one-sided 4-1 win in the supposedly intimidating Tynecastle suggests otherwise. Not least because the result ensured that Hearts are the only current top flight side against which Celtic boast a 10-game winning run across all competitions.

Over the next week or so, Steven Naismith will helm the Gorgie team twice against Rangers in Glasgow, with a Premiership encounter this Sunday at Ibrox to be followed by their Viaplay Cup semi-final at Hampden. Hearts haven’t claimed a win over a top flight Rangers in the west for 11 years. For context, since they did so with a 2-1 success at Ibrox in March 2012 (they did win there by the same scoreline two years later when both were in the Championship), Aberdeen, Hibs, St Johnstone, Hamilton Accies, Kilmarnock and Motherwell have all slayed the Govan club in Glasgow. Most more than once.

Naismith doesn’t disagree that Hearts’ desperation to be considered as the Scottish third force capable of upsetting the two above them could be proving counter-productive and responsible for leading to a psychological complex wholly unhelpful, especially on travels across the country. Naismith, though, won’t add to any such issues by proving patsies for Rangers, as were Hibs in their 4-0 drubbing at Ibrox a week ago, through Nick Montgomery’s wide-open approach. The Hearts manager maintaining “you can’t go toe-to-toe” with a team boasting much greater resources. Instead, Naismith wants his team to carry a threat without getting carried away over a general Hearts perception of their place in Scotland’s football firmament.

“There is an expectation and a demand here which I get and I understand,” he said. “I have spoken a lot about the pressures of playing for Hearts. Whether it’s playing in Glasgow or being at home, the game is not won in the first 15 or 30 minutes. But there is a demand there that brings anxiety and affects players’ decision-making on the pitch, for sure. But I do think that we as a club should be competing in every game. I don’t think we competed last Sunday and that’s why I was so disappointed. Whether we are home or away, be it the Old Firm or not, we need to have a threat and compete in the game. Not go hoping for a point.

"That is a fair assessment of where we are [in talking about a psychological complex]. There is a feeling around the club that we should be doing better than any other club…but you don’t have the divine right to go there and compete better. These are hard places to go, the pitches are very big and you are probably going to have less possession. It’s about small margins in the game and if you can turn those in your favour you will have a better chance.”