Hearts take on SPL champions Celtic at Tynecastle in front of the TV cameras on Sunday looking to build on their recent improved form.
This fixture is generally one of the most competitive in the Scottish game and as we’ve discussed already this week, there have been a fair few crackers between the sides over the years. Celtic have the upper hand in terms of results of course, but Hearts have played pretty well against them in the last three years, especially in Edinburgh, and they should be looking ahead to Sunday quietly confident of getting a result.
I’ve lost count of the number of times that we’ve lamented on this site about how much our team has fallen from the heights that it once reached during a few golden months in 2005, but although it’s true that we no longer have a side that you’d expect to be regularly challenging for the championship, we should not forget the fact that the country’s top two sides Celtic and Rangers continue to be as poor if not poorer than they were back in ’05/’06. This means that although they’re almost certain to do better than the rest over the duration of a season, they are infinitely beatable in one-off matches, and this Sunday’s at Tynecastle is no exception.
Hearts should be boosted by the return of Andy Driver, who was sorely missed against Aberdeen last week. This should help to resolve the problem of being slightly one-paced in the final third of the field, and it will be good to see how he links up with Aguiar, Stewart and Karipidis again in the midfield area. This group of players along with Larry Kingston (who misses out this weekend) were the starting midfield at Easter Road a fortnight ago, and they turned in as good a display as I’ve seen from a Hearts engine room in quite some time. If they can do this again on Sunday then they’ll at least give themselves a chance.
Despite the fact that Hearts are still struggling to find a frontman who can score goals, the big concern for me this weekend is the defensive situation. Janos Balogh did well at Easter Road in goal but looked jittery on his home debut against Aberdeen – any signs of the former against Celtic and Hearts are in trouble, especially with the considerably less-than-solid looking back four of Berra, Zaliukas, Jonsson and Wallace likely to be in front of him. To be fair to the full-backs, both Jonsson and Wallace did better against Aberdeen and hopefully will have gained some confidence from that, but the central defensive partnership is a worry.
As for our opposition, well, they’ll obviously have their threats, none more so than Aidan McGeady, a player who has always impressed me with his great natural skills on the wing. He’ll potentially be up against young Jonsson on the right for Hearts, which actually has the makings of a pretty intriguing contest in its own right. Scott McDonald is another player who’ll need to be watched- he’s nothing particularly special but he has an uncanny knack of being in the right place at the right time for Celtic, particularly in domestic matches.
As ever when one of the Old Firm are in town, if Hearts are to get a positive result then they’re likely to need a strong referee controlling things out there. The man in the middle on Sunday is Craig Thomson, and although I’m loathed to describe any of our current crop of refs as being anything resembling ‘good’, I’d probably put him in the top half of what is a pretty desperate bunch. As long as he keeps his bottle and applies the laws impartially we’ll have no complaints, but how often have we been able to say that after such a fixture!?
Hopefully it’ll be a cracker…..
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I think Scott Brown will be the main man on Sunday.
I’d like to hope that with the ‘loss’ of Kingston, we might risk two up front on Sunday, and really have a go at them. Nade and Makela (who deserves one last shot before the transfer window). I suspect though that Miko will instead come in as a straight swap. You (RK) might think that Brown will be your main man, but if we play a 5 man midfield we’ll control it – or at least hold our own. The question then becomes who has the better strikers. Therefore, barring a miracle, 1-0 Hearts is the best I think Hearts can hope for.
Is Scott Brown playing well for Celtic yet? He was never a player I rated to be honest – always thought Thompson was the better footballer when they were at Hibs and the one with the better temperament. I’m personally more concerned with McGeady and McDonald, but now that I’ve said that of course, guess who’ll probably do the damage?!
Not to forget Nakamura from set pieces and this is where an inexperienced goaly (Balogh being a new comer in the team) is a nightmare, as the goalies solidity and ability to communicate with the team is vital. As I have said I wouldn?t mind giving Makela a 20 min chance, what do we have to lose? Another last minute miss, well he would be in good company…
Nakamura can easily be marked out of a game though – the only real danger from him could be set pieces, and I suppose this is another reason why we need a decent ref i.e. a guy who won’t give them a free-kick every time the likes of Maloney takes a swan dive! As for Makela, I’d rather see myself playing up front!
Well why not lets try you out 🙂
You really haven’t see me on the football field!
No that’s true 🙂 but I haven’t seen Makale enough either to make a clear cut judgement on the boys abilities. Or maybe I am only coming from SJ’s standpoint where I am desperate to get something out of him before Jan (and bloody desperate for someone to start scoring!)
Scott Brown has just been given the player of the month award… so either he’s playing well or… 😉
I have a bad feeling about this one…
hmm gonna be hard .. good luck!
If Celtic play well and our defence doesn’t Dalien…..aye, see what you mean!
“Is Scott Brown playing well for Celtic yet?” Well he has just picked up the October player of the month.
That means nothing!
Well ,, the proof of the pudding and all that Mr H ,, we will find out soon enough !!! looking forward to the match all the same ,, Hearts V Celtic games ,, particularly at Tynecastle ,, are not to be missed ,, good luck !!!! speak later ……..
Well Mr.H it tell a lot more than you think. On current form Scott Brown is playing very well, hence why this was recognised with the player of the month aware. It’s merely an answer to your question whether Brown was playing well for Celtic yet. Based on current form, yes he is and not just in the eyes of the Celtic fans.
*award*
On my way to the game, nervous anticipation can’t wait!
Good game thus far. 2-0 at HT
conceeding two early goals make this very difficult now