I WAS QUICK TO PICK CUP THE PIECES
Austin wasted no time selecting team
Austin MacPhee has revealed he had his Hearts team picked to face Rangers today within HOURS of Craig Levein’s sacking on Thursday.
And the interim Jambos boss warned he has a wildcard up his sleeve to unsettle Steven Gerrard’s side at Hampden.
The 40-year-old – who will be joined in the Hampden dugout by respected veteran coach Donald Park – has refused to rule himself out of the running to take over as a permanent replacement for Levein.
And he hinted strongly that the version of Hearts he puts out this afternoon will be his vision for a team that had become imbalanced.
Asked when he would decide on his team and name it, he said: “I’ve already decided it, I decided it on Thursday night. I’m very clear on what I want the team to do.
“Do they know? We trained on Friday morning and I’d hope they’d know. If I have to actually sit down and tell them it, I don’t think I’ve done my job.
“I’ve had a lot of dialogue one to one with a lot of players. It was important for me to make sure they understood the training and what I wanted them to do in their role.
“And that they felt comfortable saying that they didn’t, if they didn’t.
“I know what I want the team to do so if they challenge me on it I know what I want to do in that situation.
“Whether I’ve had enough time over 48 hours to articulate that to them, time will tell.”
Injuries have decimated Hearts’ season and left only a single goal separating them from the bottom of the Premiership table.
However, MacPhee reckons he still has enough there to upset the 11/1 odds against the Jambos today.
He said: “I can’t be too radical obviously. Most are round pegs in round holes. There’s maybe one wee square peg going to get shoved in there – but it’s my job to make sure the square peg knows how to get into the round hole, and them to feel confident in their role.
“But 10 out of the 11 roles, I’m very confident in the players, based on what I’ve seen them do for this club, a previous club, or their country.”
MacPhee spoke at length about the shared responsibility for the season from hell which has seen Levein pay the ultimate price.
But he admits the litany of injuries they experienced finally got to him the day Northern Ireland striker Conor
Washington was crocked. He said: “That one was the tipping point for me, Conor’s hamstring going, because he was a different profile of striker that we had brought to the club.
“He had just played really well against Germany that midweek then against Motherwell, right after he had just put in an 11k performance against the Germans, caused them all sorts of problems, he stretches for a ball and snaps his hamstring. Conor was the only kind of player that runs behind all the time. He is a different type of striker to what we have at the club so when he went we needed to find another way to skin the cat and that may take time.
“I do think we are maybe slightly imbalanced. We need more wide players with pace who can score.
“We are a wee bit short at the top end of the pitch.
“Steven Naismith can do a lot of things – he can probably play every position other than the back four.
“Steven MacLean is obviously a link-up player and at 37, he is great around the club, then Uche Ikpeazu is just Uche.
“Aidan Keena needs to become a
Hearts firstteamplayerteamplayer in this period. It’sbeenIt’sbeen hard for young players to break into a team that doesn’t have confidence. “So to say we have an imbalance is a valid point.”
MacPhee is hoping that having the experienced Park beside him will help. He admitted: “I find that the more experienced guys in football say less but it means more.
“Young people – and I’m probably guilty of this myself – keep talking and the more words you say the less they sometimes mean.
“Donald’s hugely respected in Scottish football and by me.” Meanwhile, MacPhee blanked rumours of a dressing-room barney between the players and Levein after their loss to St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park on Wednesday night. He said: “I’m not going to talk about what’s said in the changing room. I think that’s a loss of trust with the players.
“When you’ve lost and played poorly, lots of people have lots of opinions. “The easiest way you get everyone back on the same page is to win. Sunday will be difficult but I don’t think it’s impossible.”