STENDEL HAS WORK TO DO BEFORE VISIT OF THE CHAMPIONS
New manager has plenty of work to do if he is to turn things around at Tynecastle
THE ONE significant change he makes. And it contributes directly to defeat. Not what you would call a perfect start for Daniel Stendel, is it?
As he prepares to leap headlong into the fixture pile-up necessary to create Scotland’s winter break, the new Hearts gaffer will surely accept that it’s not just his players who need to improve. And fast.
Because the kind of rookie misjudgment he made ahead of his first game at the helm, switching to a zonal marking system all-too-easily unpicked for the only goal in a rare St Johnstone away win, is just asking for trouble.
And, if Tommy Wright could exploit this obvious flaw with the players at his disposal, what sort of mischief do you think Neil Lennon’s men might make in Gorgie on Wednesday night? Goalscorer Callum Hendry pinpointed the lack of a man-marker as key to his decisive header from a 74th-minute corner.
And home keeper Bobby Zlamal, whose return to the first team was nothing if not eventful, clearly felt more than a little miffed that none of his defenders had followed the rather simple ploy of Hendry — who took up a starting position in front of the goalie — just darting towards the near post.
‘Yeah, we play the zone,’ said Zlamal. ‘And the guy was in front of me, then he went to the near post — and had a free header.
‘I don’t know, I haven’t seen it back on TV. But it’s disappointing.
‘We didn’t deserve to win. It was a nervous performance from everyone.
‘I still believe we could have got a draw. But I don’t know if we even had any chances to score.
‘I think it’s been like this all season, that we are not very confident on the ball. Supporters are shouting to us and it’s a bad atmosphere — but that’s not an excuse.
‘The fans, yeah, they are pushing us a lot. But that’s fans. They can do what they want. They buy tickets and they want to see good football.
‘I understand that they are frustrated. We are frustrated as well. But it’s a tough situation for all of us.
‘We play a different style (under the new head coach), more compact and more pressing, but he’s only had a short time — we’ve trained (with Stendel) for five days.
‘It needs time to change and be better. Of course, we have a lot of games now. But it’s a positive that we’re playing again on Wednesday.
‘We don’t have a long time to think about this loss. The next game comes up quickly. Even though it will be very tough.’
The point isn’t that zonal marking is a complete bust, for every team in every situation. But making such a big change after only five training sessions, at least one of which would have been a getting-to-know-you practice?
With the benefit of perfect hindsight, it looks about as foolhardy as trying to build an intensive pressing game around the old legs of Glenn Whelan and Steven MacLean. Or entrusting Oliver Bozanic with a starting position under any circumstances.
At least veterans like Whelan and MacLean have qualities as footballers. Just qualities not being used to good effect, at the moment.
Sean Clare, on the other hand? The cheer that went up when he was substituted with about 25 minutes remaining said everything about supporters’ patience with a player who is infuriating, to say the least.
As a collective, meanwhile, Hearts spent about 90 minutes kicking the ball ‘at’ the visitors.
They were rushed, they were flustered, they did everything at top speed. And, as a result, they mostly moved up the pitch in staggered stages — throw-in by 50/50 ball, thundering challenge by hoofed clearance.
And, while Stendel naturally appealed for patience from the punters afterwards, you have to understand the mood music before you start conducting the choir down in Gorgie.
They were booing with just ten minutes on the clock, their team’s inability to deliver a decent corner — of which they had several in an up-tempo start — driving the long-suffering diehards demented with frustration.
Against a St Johnstone side enjoying a success rate of around 50 per cent against the Hearts offside trap, the home side created almost nothing that could be described as a chance.
Stendel, his fresh short
back-and-sides haircut just right for that first big presentation in a new job, was extremely animated on the touchline. Could you really blame him? Ultimately, Wright’s men were just the better football team. Given the season they’ve had, up to this point, that should be terrifying for everyone at Hearts to hear. The goal came in the 74th minute directly from a corner conceded when Zlamal made an absolutely blinding point-blank save from Hendry, who replaced the ineffectual Stevie May after an hour. With big Uche Ikpeazu having been thrown on to do… well, whatever it is he does, the Jambos never looked like equalising.
And so to Celtic. The champions. A team who had put together a 12-match winning streak at home and abroad, until the second XI lost in Thursday night’s Europa League dead-rubber match in Romania.
‘The positive is that, against St Johnstone, everyone expected us to win — and that created pressure,’ said Zlamal, rather hopefully. ‘On Wednesday, the pressure is on the Celtic side, so we can feel not too much. We can surprise them.’
Taking anything from that game would qualify as an upset, certainly. And, with Hamilton away then home matches against Hibernian and Aberdeen to come before the end of the year, it might take something special just to generate much-needed momentum.
In the meantime, perhaps the affable and knowledgable Stendel could help Hearts fans out with something.
German being a wonderful language full of elaboratelyconstructed compound words, never using one syllable when 14 knitted together can convey
precisely what you mean, he may be just the man.
Because his native tongue must surely boast a single term that describes the kind of anguish being suffered by supporters at the moment.
His own immediate ambition, meanwhile, will involve trying to avoid the more linguisticallygifted among the Tynecastle regulars accusing him of verschlimmbessern.
Which, if this dictionary is correct, translates roughly as ‘making things worse by trying to make them better’.
Given the position Hearts found themselves in, you definitely wouldn’t have thought that possible, would you? HEARTS (4-4-2): Zlamal 6; Smith 5, Halkett 6, Berra 5, Hickey 6; Clare 4 (Ikpeazu 66), Whelan 5, Bozanic 4, Walker 6 (Damour 80); MacLean 6, Keena 4 (Meshino 45). Subs not used: Pereira, Wighton, Brandon, Dikamona. Booked: Smith, Hickey. ST JOHNSTONE (4-1-4-1): Clark 6; Ralston 7, Gordon 7, Kerr 7, Booth 6; McCann 6; O’Halloran 6, Davidson 6, Holt 7 (Craig 80), Kennedy 7 (Wotherspoon 86); May 5 (Hendry 60). Subs not used: Parish, Duffy, Tanser, Wright. Booked: Davidson, Ralston. Man of the match: Matthew Kennedy. Referee: Alan Newlands. Attendance: 16,347.