Chorus of approval
Gomis joins Hearts fans in singing Juanma’s praises
DISAPPOINTINGLY, the hymn of praise directed towards the Hearts goalscoring hero was not the 1980 one-hit-wonder from St Winifred’s School Choir.
But as the travelling supporters repeatedly chanted the name of their new Spanish striker to the tune of Seven Nation Army by The White Stripes, it was clear that, in their eyes, there was no one quite like Juanma.
Making his way off to a standing ovation, two second-half strikes by the summer signing from Kalloni had turned a remarkable game completely on its head to send Robbie Neilson’s men to the summit of the Premiership on Saturday night.
It was the 24-year-old Valencia native’s third goal i n two Premiership games as the Championship winners continued to settle nicely into life in the top tier, with their first win at Dens since August 2004.
And with a run of eminently winnable league games coming up against Motherwell (home), Ross County ( a way) , Partick Thistle (home) and Hamilton ( away), Hearts midfielder Morgaro Gomis has warned top-flight defences that the physically imposing Juanma has yet to hit his peak.
‘He’s a good player and you can see already that he can finish,’ beamed Gomis. ‘But there is more to come from Juanma because — like half of the squad, including myself — he didn’t have a proper pre-season. ‘ He has the skills you would expect of a Spanish striker in that he can hold up the ball, l i nk with others and he can finish as well. He gives us a great option with his strength.
‘His first was a penalty kick but his second was a really good finish. We are just so happy to have him and I hope he can carry on playing so well.
‘He has said that he wants to play in England one day, but he needs to work hard and keep scoring goals and then we will see what happens.
‘But one thing is sure: there are goals in this team. Juanma has shown that, plus we have Osman Sow and Gavin Reilly. I think all our strikers will do well for us this season.’
Yet nobody in their right mind would have predicted Hearts would end the day at the top of the table after the chasing they were given by a superb Dundee in the opening 45 minutes.
In front of an impressively noisy crowd, the home side were ahead after just five minutes when Greg Stewart’s cross was deftly headed into the top-left corner by Kane Hemmings, past the despairing dive of Neil Alexander.
But the visitors should have been level when Juanma played in Jamie Walker. With Scott Bain to beat from eight yards, however, the Hearts attacker hit the ball straight at the keeper. Handed the chance to atone, Walker nodded woefully over the bar.
Moments later, in a breathtaking encounter, Alexander made a terrific block from close range to stop Stewart converting a fine low cross from Hemmings. Then Gary Harkins ran clear on goal but blazed into the side-netting.
Amazingly, Hearts could have gone in level but Juanma headed wide from a matter of yards from an Alim Ozturk cross.
Then it took another fine save from Alexander to stop Kevin Holt heading Dundee into a 2-0 lead. Regardless, Paul Hartley’s men were given a standing ovation at the break.
But then something astonishing happened. A totally different Dundee team turned up after the break and Hearts won a penalty when James McPake handled in the box.
Juanma stylishly sent Bain the wrong way for 1-1. Seven minutes later, he clinched all three points with a fine finish, gliding past tackles before slotting clinically into the net.
But j ust what had been the turning point that saw Hearts go from looking like uncertain new boys in the top flight to a team looking capable of finishing high up the table?
‘The reason why we were so much better in the second half was down to the gaffer — he was so unhappy,’ smiled Gomis after a competitive match that saw nine bookings.
‘I’d never seen him like that before and I definitely don’t want to see him like that again. But that’s football. If you’re not playing well, then the manager isn’t going to be pleased with you.
‘He can raise his voice, believe me. He’s just like anybody else when he isn’t happy.
‘We were actually quite relieved to go in just 1-0 down because Dundee created a lot of chances and could have scored two or three against us. The gaffer told us to forget about what had gone before and t o go out and express ourselves. That’s what we did.
‘But we haven’t hit our stride yet. We’re not playing the kind of free-flowing football we did last season. That’s partly because we’ve brought in a lot of new players and they are still getting used to us. The more we play together, the better we’ll become.
‘It’s good to start so well but it’s a l ong season and we’re not getting carried away. We’ll take it one game at a time but getting points on the board helps us.
‘Look at Dundee. They started well last year and stayed in the top six all season, so if we can do what they did it will be good for us.
‘But we’re not going to talk about challenging Celtic. They are a great club with a big fanbase and a lot of money. They are the No 1 club in Scotland and we’re just happy to be where we are.’