LIFE’S A BEACH
I’ll never forget the hardest training day of my life at Gullane but it’s been the making of our title bid says Smith
MICHAEL SMITH believed he was going to become a Beach Boy when Craig Levein arranged a pre-season training trip to Gullane sands.
However, the defender and the rest of his Hearts team-mates formed an entirely different type of band that fateful day.
While a number of players ended up being sick with the gruelling shifts up and down the sand dunes, the Northern Ireland international insists the good, old-fashioned training session turned the men in maroon into a band of brothers.
Smith believes the Premiership table-toppers are now reaping the benefits of that punishing workout which he labelled the “hardest day” of his football career.
The 30-year-old full-back said: “Even on the second day of pre-season we did a lot of running and the boys were like, ‘Wow! This is mad!’
“Then we got to the beach. I think we all thought, ‘Beach day, brilliant!’ but we were up and down the sand dunes until we threw up.
“The squad quickly realised we meant business this year. We became a band of brothers that day at Gullane Beach. It was my hardest day in football without any exception.
“We went to a hotel afterwards for lunch and everyone was just silent. We were all knackered.
“It was great though, everyone got through it, we pulled each other through and it helped us massively.
“The attitude from then on within the changing room has been brilliant. It was a tough pre-season but that session in particular brought us all together. It was old-school training but it definitely served a purpose.
“We got both the fitness and the camaraderie side out of it and we are reaping the rewards now.
“If you get a tough day on a Saturday you know that you can pull someone through and they can pull you through too. It helps knowing you have those people out on the pitch.
“If you’re not playing well as a team on a Saturday you know the mental strength of the squad can really get you through a game and get you all three points. And before anyone asks – no I wasn’t sick!”
Having brought in 18 new players over the summer Smith admits he has never seen a team gel so quickly and hit the ground running.
Five successive Premiership wins – including victories over Celtic and away successes against Kilmarnock and Motherwell – have propelled the capital club to the top of the table.
It’s small wonder the Gorgie faithful are starting to get carried away amidst talk of a genuine title challenge.
Smith said: “I think the players’ attitude has been the key. We are a friendly bunch in the dressing room.
“We have clicked straight away and it is hard to get that with any new team. From my experience it has taken a few months to see the benefits on the pitch when you bring
in a totally new squad of players but it has happened immediately.
“Some fans are getting carried away but we know it’s only five games in and there is a long way to go.
“The view from the top of the table is nice at the moment but we have to stay grounded and just need to see where it takes us.
“We know our home form last season was fantastic. It was the away form that was killing us. We seem a lot more solid and it is basically a whole new squad.
“The lads who have come in have a great attitude and mentality, not to mention their ability because they can really play.”
It is that solidity which has seen Levein’s men function to the maximum despite the loss of last season’s goalscoring talisman Kyle Lafferty who quit Tynecastle to join Rangers last month.
Smith insists it’s been pretty much business as usual since his compatriot’s departure and the likes of Steven Naismith, Uche Ikpeazu and Olly Lee have gladly filled the goalscoring void.
He said: “Kyle wasn’t even starting anyway as he was on the bench. He scored a lot of goals for us last year and we hadn’t really had a lot of goals from elsewhere in the team.
“This year Naisy, Uche and Olly have all been popping up with goals and they’ve been brilliant. We’ve made some great signings and they’re all helping us.
“There are goals coming from everywhere and we’re just getting on with it. There’s been no ifs or buts. We’ve no qualms about Kyle leaving.
“He did really well for us but he wanted to go and that’s it.”
Smith is expecting another stern examination of the Edinburgh men’s title credentials when they face Livingston at Tynecastle today.
But he reckons Hearts are now better equipped to cope with robust sides such as Motherwell and Livi. He said: “Livi are doing really well.
“They’ve got their own style and it’s working for them.
“We showed against Motherwell that when we face physical and direct teams that we can cope and we’ll stand up to it again.”