Stendel prepares for ‘most-important game ever’ - with a day off
New Hearts manager Daniel Stendel admits it has taken him less than a fortnight of living in the capital to appreciate the enormity of the Edinburgh derby.
However, the German is hoping the ferocious rivalry is restricted solely to the pitch on Boxing Day, after recalling the bedlam associated with local battles in his homeland.
Fighting in the stands, fanatical fans forming a human roadblock to stop the team bus, and supporters turning up at training to vent their fury were just a few experiences from his time as a striker at the likes of Hamburg, Hannover and St Pauli.
Former Barnsley boss Stendel said: “I have experience of derbies from Germany, but my feeling after less than two weeks being here is that it’s so much more.
“I get the feeling that it’s the most-important game ever.
“In Germany, derbies are a little bit more dangerous. There’s a lot of police.
“There is more fighting going on off the pitch than there is on the pitch.
“The biggest derby for me was Hannover against Eintracht Braunschweig.
“You need to be very careful before this game starts.
“In Germany, when you are not winning or not playing good, you can get supporters coming to the training ground and shouting: ‘Hey, what are you doing?’ “They will stop your bus. “It doesn’t happen every time, but the main focus is not so much on the game, more on everything around the game.”
The Hearts players will prepare for the fixture by having Christmas Day off, with Stendel keen to abide by the same routine he had at Barnsley.
The 45-year-old admitted: “Maybe you are surprised, but we won’t train on Christmas Day.
“Superstition. I did the same thing with Barnsley last year. We didn’t train on the 25th, we trained on the 24th, and we beat Peterborough on Boxing Day.
“I got some opinions and the expectation is that we train on Christmas Day. But it is not that I don’t notice how big this game is.
“It is that we have a lot of games, and this week we train before the games.
“Training is one thing, but the other thing is the mentality to prepare for the game.
“I think in all jobs, if you are happy with your family, then you can give your best performance and this is what we want.”
Thursday’s clash also sees Stendel renew his rivalry with Jack Ross, after going up against his Hibs counterpart at Sunderland on his way to leading Barnsley to promotion from League One last season.
Although Stendel achieved the ultimate goal in reaching the Championship, the Tykes only took one point from the two matches.
And it appears there could still be some lingering bad blood from those encounters.
Asked if he and Ross shared a post-match drink last season, Stendel replied: “It’s a tradition in England just like here, but no.
“They were emotional games, a little bit.
“But I cannot say I don’t like him. And I don’t know if he likes me or doesn’t like me.
“In those two games, we didn’t do it.
“Will we meet this time? The good thing is I can stay in my office and wait! There will be a bottle of wine there.”