Boss Locke is picking on me, says Robinson
HEARTS’ Scott Robinson believes manager Gary Locke ‘ picked’ on him when he substituted the midfielder at half-time for a second successive match.
Robinson had no complaints about being replaced in the 0-0 draw with Dundee United 11 days ago, admitting he had failed to perform before making way for Callum Tapping.
The 21-year-old does, however, feel it was unfair of Locke to introduce Billy King in his place as Hearts attempted to overcome a 1-0 half-time deficit in the crucial bottom- of-thetable clash against St Mirren on Saturday, which the Tynecastle side went on to lose 2-0.
Robinson feels his confidence has now been eroded and believes he has become an easy target when things are not going well for the Gorgie men.
The Scotland Under-21 cap is no stranger to managerial controversies. Last season, Robinson was f orced to apologise to then boss John McGlynn after being banned from the training ground for allegedly refusing to take a place on the bench for a match against Aberdeen.
‘I put my hand up and admit that last week (against Dundee United) I wasn’t in the game at all,’ said Robinson.
‘I made a few errors and it was one of those days for me. I was really poor in that game.
‘On Saturday there, I think it was a case of: “I’ll just pick on him again and take him off”.
‘ I didn’t think I was the poorest out of the midfield four. It’s just been me on the day.
‘Obviously, my confidence is really low now again. It’s just the case that, if things are going wrong, I probably know that it will be me coming off. That’s just the way it is.
‘I’ll need to hope things are going well for the team or I’ll be first to come off.
‘I’ve just got to try to be as positive as I can and, I suppose, believe in myself.
‘If it’s not going well for the team, I can’t be the one to have a good game just by myself.
‘We need to play well as a team and, if we aren’t, I just feel that I’ll be the one to come off. I admit I was by far the worst last week, but I didn’t think I was the worst on Saturday.’
Robinson was critical of Hearts’ style of play at the weekend, arguing their direct approach played into the hands of St Mirren as the Tynecastle side were left 10 points adrift of Kilmarnock at the f oot of the standings. While i nsisting he is not unhappy with the role he has been asked to play, as a holding midfielder beside Jamie Hamill, t he youngster stressed he wanted to attack more. In an interview in the Edinburgh Evening News, Robinson added: ‘The position is fine for me, as long as I get to go forward as well. I don’t want to just sit for the whole game.
‘Sitting in front of the back four is not my game.
‘I like to break forward and link up the play with Jason (Holt) and the wingers.
‘I like getting into advanced positions instead of getting the ball deep and playing it from side to side.
‘I’ll take a bit of time off (over the international break) and then come back and work hard to try to keep my place — although I doubt that will happen now.’
Locke (left) has responded calmly to Robinson’s complaints by insisting that the midfielder will have an important part to play as Hearts attempt to pull off a great escape from relegation in the wake of the 15-point penalty imposed for entering administration in the close season.
The Tynecastle manager made it clear he makes every decision for the good of the team and would not victimise any individual player.
‘Scott is like that, he’s that type of boy,’ said Locke.
‘He does get a bit emotional and he does react in certain ways at times.
‘On Saturday, I just felt we needed to change things at half-time. If I feel we need to change things and it works, then great. If it doesn’t work, then, as a manager, you take responsibility.
‘It was just one of those things. We weren’t playing that great for 25 minutes before half-time and I felt we needed to go with another striker. That was the reason I changed it and obviously you have to sacrifice players. Unfortunately, this time it was Scott.
‘I l ook at the games as open-minded as I can and, if I feel we need to change one or two things, that’s what I do.
‘ It’s a long, hard season ahead. We’ve got players who are going to play games, players who are going to come off in games. It’s very much everybody is in it together.’