We’ve built the stand. Now it’s time to fix the team
SAYS CRAIG LEVEIN
ANORMAL, straightforward, downright ordinary week. All at Hearts cry hallelujah and count themselves blessed. Home from their wandering through foreign fields, no longer donning hard hats to talk about safety certificates, Craig Levein and his staff can now focus on ‘fixing’ the major structural problems afflicting the first team. Simple.
Sure, they’ve taken one point from the previous 12 available. Lack of firepower remains a serious concern.
Yet Levein, who oversaw the arrival of a veritable jumble of players during Ian Cathro’s reign, has identified the issues most in need of repair. He is confident the January transfer window will enable him to reinforce obvious weaknesses.
And he is impressed enough in the key players already in position — Esmael Goncalves identified as a case in point — to predict brighter times ahead.
As he prepares to welcome Ross County to a rebuilt Tynecastle for the second of five straight home games — the pay-off for all those away days and uncomfortable afternoons at Murrayfield — Levein admitted that last weekend’s on-off-on-off match with Partick Thistle felt like the end of a tumultuous period in Gorgie history.
‘The worst of it is over — and now we’re back dealing with normal stuff,’ said the head coach. ‘It’s hard sometimes to make people feel really confident and good in themselves by flicking a switch. That’s difficult to do.
‘We had a lot of problems, a lot of changes and all the away matches — and a lot of things have happened to the players this season that have been difficult to deal with. They’re not feeling at their absolute best just now. We need to fix some things, that’s apparent.’
Still to speak to Hearts owner Ann Budge about exact numbers ahead of the mid-season market opening up, Levein’s dual role as director of football will definitely inform his plans; he knows, more or less, how much is left in the kitty after the club spent £13million on a new main stand.
Although he’ll look to add players and shed dead wood, he sees enough in his current best XI to feel encouraged. Goncalves has certainly caught the eye, with Levein saying: ‘He’s different to a lot of players in this country, he has different abilities and strengths. ‘And it’s as much about the other players here finding out what his capabilities are. I want him to do the things he is good at. I rate him really highly.
‘In some ways he’s a bit immature emotionally, you see it on the field. He gets disappointed when things don’t go his way, he throws his arms up and that’s emotion.
‘We’re working on that, just to try and tame that and get him focused on what’s happening immediately after. But I like him and I think he has a big future.
‘We have to allow him to do what he’s good at, rather than try to turn him into something else. He has great qualities, his ability to run with the ball, his strength, his finishing. Kyle Lafferty is completely different, he is used to playing as a lone striker.
‘So we have that combination that doesn’t quite sit 100 per cent together. We need to try to find a way.
‘But width, a goalscoring midfielder, a left-back — they’re not complicated situations. It’s about finding the exact balance and making sure everything fits in like a jigsaw, that’s my responsibility. Once I can do that, I think everything will be all right.’
Budge will obviously have a key part to play in refurbishing the first team, although Levein smiled as he revealed: ‘Well, I haven’t had the discussion with Ann about what’s available, what’s not available and so on.
‘Last week was just mental. And that’s still ongoing, because there is still work going on at the stand. But it’s a conversation we will have. I’m already predicting that I’ll need to make some headroom by moving some players on.
‘Some players aren’t happy because they’re not playing, so that’s easily fixed. Ann has been supportive of everybody, all the managers. She’s tried her best to help.
‘The circumstances now are slightly different, with a fairly hefty spend on the stand. That’s why I’m not sitting here saying we need this and we need that. I need to create some headroom to go and bring players in.
‘Not only have we managed to get back into the Premiership, we’ve also managed to build a £13m stand. That’s an enormous amount of money.
‘That’s sometimes forgotten. I don’t think there is any other club, at this moment in time, who have made that financial investment.
‘We’ve spent a hell of a lot of money to keep the club at Tynecastle, firstly. We’ve also spent a hell of a lot in youth development.
‘Now is the time for patience. We will get to the point where we want to be — regularly competing at the top level.’