Dons gaffer
‘We have replacement for Topi in our sights’
Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken insists he’s not losing any sleep over the exodus of his top stars – because he still has an army of leaders in his new-look dressing room.
The bullish Belgian was forced to endure yet another departure as Australian international midfielder Cammy Devlin followed former skipper Lawrence Shankland by signing for Rangers yesterday to rejoin forces with ex-jambos boss Derek Mcinnes.
It’s been a summer of change for the Edinburgh club who were left heartbroken on the final day of last season when they were pipped by champions Celtic to the Premiership title in the most dramatic climax witnessed by Scottish football in recent history.
Other influential players such as Beni Baningime, Frankie Kent, Michael Steinwender and Kenneth Vargas have also chosen to depart the Tynecastle club – although they have boosted the squad with arrivals such as former Falkirk star Calvin Miller and Josh Mcpake from St Johnstone.
Having returned from their pre-season training camp in Spain only to lose to Championshipsidelivingston2-1at Almondvale on Friday night in Scott Pittman’s testimonial match, Vrancken has just over a week left to get his troops ready to travel to Sturm Graz on July
21 in their Champions League second qualifying round first leg tie in Austria.
But the former Mechelen, Genk and Gent gaffer is refusing to panic over the high-profile exit of an array of proven leaders as he believes his squad is still brimming with big characters.
Vrancken, who succeeded Mcinnes in the hotseat last month, said: “For me, it’s not about leaders.
“That’s because I think there are still a lot of leaders in our group, especially
when I compare it with the past groups I have had.
“So I think we have leaders with Craig Halkett. We have that type also in Stephenkingsley,weevenhaveitwith Jamie Mccart and Stuart Findlay.
“So there are a lot of personalities in the group. You can include Harry (Milne) too.
“So the number of leaders is not a problem. Of course, you lose your total central space of the team.
“So we have to look at where we are and make sure we are clean and strong again. But the guys are pushing really hard and that’s nice to work with.
“It’s most important for me that the leaders take the responsibility, like we have the players council also and that they step up.
“We don’t have officially a captain yet. But we also have Halkett who is still out untiltheendoftheyear.
“He is also a potential captain. So, yeah, I’m not concerned about those things.”
Vrancken couldn’t have asked for a much tougher start to his time in
Scotland and has called on his players to embrace the challenge of going into European competition against Sturm Graz.
He added: “We have analysed them. Yes, they are a good team.
“It’s for sure a good team who are also physically strong. They have two good strikers so we will have to be really good.
“I was happy with what I wanted to do foralotofthelivingstonmatch.
“But like the 50-50 duels, the loose balls in between, we were not man enough at some moments there to really takethegameandjustgivethemno chance to come into the game.
“So we have to improve on a few things for sure. But it is, of course, normal after only two weeks or so. But, like I said, we have to be ready.
“We do have to speed up a little because of the Champions League game which is coming soon. The preparation is short.”
Meanwhile, new Livingston boss Glenn Whelan is vowing to use his recent experience with Celtic assistant boss Shaun Maloney at Wigan to help the West Lothian club in their quest to regain Premiership status at the first attempt.
Whelan, who earned 91 caps for Republic of Ireland, said: “Shaun was great for me, bringing me in. Obviously, with himself working with Roberto Martinez, coming out of Belgium, he had loads of great ideas.
“It was great just to have the conversations more so about how we see football. The Wigan experience, like anything, you take the best out of it and hopefully improve.
“The ending was not good, how it ended, but it’s football. It’s the industry that we’re in.
“For me, I played until I was late into my thirties, and now I’m on the coaching ladder.
“I’m looking to try and get as high as I can in this format. Now I need to come in and try and prove myself, first and foremost to the fans at Livingston and get a tune out of the boys.”