Stewart Back In Hearts Team?

Hearts midfielder Michael Stewart is apparently back in training after missing the Celtic game last weekend through injury. The question is though – should there be a place for him in the first
team to walk back into against Motherwell on Saturday?

The decision to re-sign Stewart from rivals Hibs in the summer was in the main not a popular one among supporters. In his first spell with the club he’d been a player who had at times looked a very capable footballer, but one that had too often only played when he appeared to feel like it, and to succeed at a club like Hearts you really can’t get away with an attitude like that. The fact that he’d been at Hibs only added to the feeling of apprehension surrounding the move.

However Stewart quickly won many of the fans over with a series of committed displays, during which he showed much more appetite for wearing the maroon jersey than he ever had done during his previous spell at the club. He also stuck out a mile in a team not overly blessed with naturally gifted players, and generally was seen as the main creative influence from the middle of the park.

Since a dubious red card against Gretna before Christmas though, things have not really happened at all for Stewart. A mixture of injuries and suspensions have limited his appearances since then, but even when he has been in the side he’s looked like an entirely different player to the confident midfielder we saw in the early months of the season, and has generally struggled to do anything right! The insistence of the management team in persisting with him taking the majority of set-pieces hasn’t exactly helped his cause either, as they have always been shocking!

So we now find ourselves in a difficult position with Stewart. We know the guy can play (well, those of us who can see through the fact that we simply don’t like the guy personally that is!), but is he someone that can be regularly relied upon to deliver? I think the jury most certainly has to be out on that one.

But the big problem that Hearts have is their lack of an obvious alternative to play in Stewart’s midfield role. Regardless of the hype that surrounds the likes of Palazuelos and Jonsson, neither appear to be effective attacking midfield players and to be honest from what I’ve seen so far I think they are both distinctly average at what they do – certainly not the guys you’d be looking for to be your main player in midfield.

Larry Kingston certainly has the creativity to do an effective attacking job, but he doesn’t have the workrate to be a constant presence in the centre of the park, and would have very little protection around him if partnered by the usual selection of midfield lightweights, so it’s a very difficult decision for Stevie Frail and co.

Of course, there is perhaps a simple answer to this that so far hasn’t been examined here……..namely the one that goes something like ‘who cares?’………………..!