We haven’t progressed but we still managed to finish second because we have heart and don’t like getting beat SAYS PETER HOUSTON
PETER HOUSTON concedes that he does not know what to make of this season. On one hand, finishing Championship runners-up for a second season in a row represents a significant achievement and one that could yet yield promotion through the Play-offs.
And yet there is an inescapably flat feel around the Falkirk Stadium.
Fans, players and the manager himself acknowledge the football hasn’t quite been as good as either last season or indeed the year before when the club came within an ace of lifting the Scottish Cup.
‘We have not been a great watch,’ admits Houston. ‘We’ve been inconsistent and our home form has been poor.
‘Myself and the backroom staff have spoken about this — we had so many highs last year, so many last-minute winners.
‘We went to Easter Road and got a draw then Bob McHugh won us the Play-off with the last kick of the ball. There was the Rangers game, when we were two down and came back to win 3-2.
‘The whole place was flying and the punters flew with it because it was all going for us. This year, we’ve twice lost last-minute goals to Hibs.
‘Instead of it going our way, we are feeling the way Hibs must have against us last season.’
While the Leith side entertained in an open fashion under Alan Stubbs, they have shown a steelier side under Neil Lennon and that has ultimately led them to the title.
There’s been no disgrace in finishing behind the Edinburgh club, likewise in the previous two years when first Hearts, then Rangers claimed automatic promotion from a wickedly competitive second tier.
The thing that nags Houston is that he does not feel his team has progressed this season. Defeat in last year’s promotion Play-off to Kilmarnock still rankles and he openly blames himself for not changing his tactics for the secondleg tie at Kilmarnock.
Subsequently, he admits the club have struggled to replace the influence of midfielders Will Vaulks and Blair Alston, who departed for Rotherham and St Johnstone respectively.
‘I don’t think I realised how big a loss they would be,’ admits Houston, who will face former club Dundee United in the Play-off semi-final.
‘They gave us goals from the edge of the box, whether it was Blair coming in against Rangers to bang one in from 25 yards or Vaulks doing it against St Mirren and loads of other teams.
‘We haven’t been a threat from central midfield in the same way.
‘There have been games where we have not played as much football as we’ve wanted. I have chopped and changed to try and get it right but we have had inconsistency all over the pitch.
‘If we had been as good as last year, if we had kept Vaulks and Alston, I’m convinced we would have been up there challenging, if not winning it.
‘But the funny thing is Hibs only overtook us last week as the top scorers in the division. For all the highs of last season, there is every chance we will go up without hitting our own high standards.
‘We have got second because they (the players) have a bit of heart and do not like getting beat.
‘We have got results without playing well. We have finished ten points worse off but we have still finished second in a tough league. We have got to give the players credit for that.’
Houston clearly remains irked by the events of last May when, having knocked Hibs out of the promotion reckoning, his team came up short against Killie.
Another late goal, this time from Vaulks, gave Houston’s team a 1-0 lead going into the second leg in Ayrshire where the boss admits he set up his team to be too open.
‘If I had Rugby Park to live over again, I would have picked a different team,’ he reflects. ‘I should have changed a successful formation — not an easy thing to do — and beefed up against Kilmarnock’s strengths.
‘We were lucky to win the home game, so maybe I should have started with a back three, culminating in a back five, to defend the sides better.
‘I take a lot of responsibility for not picking the right team or formation. I look at the way the game started and I think I got it wrong but I’ve learned from it.’
In an effort to free up the minds and bodies of his players, Houston allowed a few to indulge in a short break to Spain through the week.
‘We trust them to do the right things and so we cut them loose a bit,’ he explains. ‘A few of them went away to Marbella for a few days, but we trust them to be doing the right things.
‘They’ll be back refreshed and bottom line, we need them to play a little better than they’ve been playing. They know that and it’s a release now they’re actually there.
‘We’ll be prepared like they’re playing in two cup finals. We’ll be ready for it.’