I CALLED IT HALL WRONG Levein pays price for rushing back cap-chasing Naismith
CRAIG LEVEIN admits he should have stopped Steven Naismith chasing a spot in Scotland’s Hall of Fame – and himself from rushing his star striker back. The frustrated Hearts boss will once again have to do without his most influential player for tomorrow’s massive home clash with Rangers as the 33-year-old rehabs an injury. Levein insists patience is crucial despite his struggling team crying out for inspiration and is resisting the temptation to rush the veteran back. That’s a lesson both men learned the hard way as a fleeting comeback from the knee problem that ravaged much of last season broke down after just three games of this campaign at the end of August. But when Steve Clarke called him up for the double-header against Russia and Belgium in September, Naismith – just one short of 50 caps and a place in the Hall of Fame – was desperate to be involved. In hindsight Levein believes he should have told Naisy not to join up because he fears his involvement in the national squad pushed him too hard too soon. Now lessons have been learned and the Jambos gaffer has vowed to fight his own urge to see Naismith back in action to ensure he’s 100 percent ready to get back in the team and stay there. He said: “I’m just being very cautious with Steven because I did bring him back maybe a bit sooner than was needed. “It’s just a constant fight with yourself when you are looking at players in the stand who could have a big impact on the field. “There is a temptation to try and hurry that process up but I’m beyond that now. I have kind of pushed that to the back of my mind. He’s not far away from being involved and will play when he’s ready.
“He had muscle injuries when he came back then he went right into the Scotland stuff.
“He’s sitting one cap away from 50 matches and getting into the Hall of Fame so there was a rush to get that.
“To be fair, I should’ve taken him out of that environment and just kept a hold of him but he is sitting one cap away...
“He hasn’t played 90 minutes since February so essentially there is the problem – he didn’t do pre-season.
“So his body is deconditioned a little bit. That means there is this gradual process to get him back up to full fitness.
“I think we’ve jumped to get him back – one, for me to get him back in the team and two, for his eagerness to play for Scotland. “So now I’m just being ultra-cautious with him.” While Naismith’s return is still in the pipeline Levein has been boosted by the likely return of target man Uche Ikpeazu and midfield linchpin Peter Haring for tomorrow’s Tynecastle clash with the league leaders. The manager will expect a strong reaction against Rangers having let rip at his players after their previous game, a meek 1-0 defeat at home to Kilmarnock. He added: “I’ve been as supportive as I need to be, that’s part of the job. There are also times when people need a kick up the backside. “When I look back through our fixtures, every match we’ve lost, we’ve lost by the odd goal apart from Celtic which was 3-1 aw ay from home. That is a helluva frustration. We’ve gifted teams goals, we’ve missed glaring opportunities and if the score lines were consistently big,then there’s a problem.
“But for me, there’s not an awful lot wrong and that’s why I’m trying to get that extra ounce out of everybody that takes to the field, to make them understand we just need a little bit more.
“We found that little bit more against Hibs and Aberdeen in the Betfred Cup quarter-final. We weren’t far off in the other matches either but everybody needs to do a wee bit more.
“The frustrating thing for me is I know we can do it. We did it at Easter Road and against Aberdeen when there’s a real feeling of excitement within the stadium. So again that big game atmosphere will help on Sunday.
“Whether that has pushed us on to perform or whether us performing has pushed the supporters to get right behind us, sometimes it’s hard to work out which way round it happens.
“One thing I’d say is that if you’re not playing well they’ll tell you but if we are they’ll tell us we’re doing well.
“From that point of view, our performance will often dictate what we get from the supporters.”