Bozanic begins to make all the right connections
HIS goals may have lit a spark under Hearts’ season but Oli Bozanic believes manager Daniel Stendel’s smartest decision was to deploy he and Loic Damour as firefighters in front of the Hearts defence.
The match-winner in last weekend’s Scottish Cup victory over Rangers and scorer of the key second goal in the midweek derby victory over Hibs, Bozanic has shown a nice line in cool finishing over the past week or so.
Yet the Australian insists he has derived more contentment from his day job as a midfield anchor.
Bozanic’s work mopping up and covering gaps has arguably made an even greater contribution to the recovery of a team that stood accused of being too open to make a proper fight of avoiding relegation.
He and Damour had become bit-part players under Stendel, mustering just seven starts between them in the German’s first 13 games in charge.
Frenchman Damour had not started since the Boxing Day defeat to Hibs before being thrown in against Rangers, yet his central-midfield combination with Bozanic clicked.
‘We have a big squad and it’s taken the manager time to work out a number of things, the combinations and what works best,’ said Bozanic. ‘It’s been great to score the goals but that midfield role is my real job. Both myself and Loic have that responsibility to help the defence out and we are building a really good partnership.
‘He has been unreal. He had been working away quietly, just waiting for his chance and he has taken it with both hands. It’s good that we have a good connection there in midfield and the structure of the team looks good.’
Stendel’s high pressing game backfired in Hearts’ last home league outing against Hamilton and they were lucky to rescue a point.
So the postponement of a vital fixture against St Mirren looks to have been a gift from the heavens as the two-week hiatus leading up to the Rangers match prompted a rethink.
Out went the gegenpress, in came Bozanic and Damour, and suddenly things look brighter with the club preparing to visit Paisley for that rearranged fixture on Wednesday.
In a previous spell at Luzern, Bozanic worked under Markus Babbel and has found certain similarities in the way the two Germans operate. ‘I have worked with a German manager before, so I had an idea of what to expect,’ he added. ‘He (Stendel) is very precise in how he wants to work and what his expectations are.
‘I think it has taken a little bit of time for everyone to learn but I think we are getting there.’