The Traditional ‘Helping Hand’ For The Old Firm

So?.Leeds United are interested in signing Marius Zaliukas and Ismael Bouzid from Hearts are they? It`s not the unlikeliest of possibilities to be honest – both players (Zaliukas in particular) are having solid seasons and together seem to have a decent understanding at the back, and any interest in them from other clubs would most likely come from the likes of the Old Firm up here or teams in and around the Championship in England.

All feasible enough then? Well??yes, but then consider who Hearts` next opponents are this weekend and tell me if you still think there`s any real substance in this story. Rangers at home. In a game that genuinely means something. In fact for a change, a Hearts win dents Rangers` title hopes at the same time as potentially bringing the Edinburgh club into the reckoning at the top of the table themselves. In other words, the Old Firm ‘duopoly` could be threatened this weekend, and this is when the Scottish press are at their absolute best in their attempts to preserve the status quo.

I cannot honestly think of a significant match against one of the Old Firm clubs that Hearts have been involved in when a key Hearts player has not been linked with a move elsewhere during the week leading up to it. Granted, it`s normally a story about one of our players actually moving TO Glasgow, but with the way that finances are in the Scottish game right now, even the most dyed-in-the-wool member of the ‘Laptop Loyal` would probably be slightly embarrassed to allege such a scenario. So the next best thing is to suggest that Hearts might be about to receive a bid from a club who would tick the boxes as far as being a realistic potential buyer is concerned?.a club like Leeds United for example. The aim is to have the same effect i.e. suitably unsettle at least one key player in the opposition ahead of the match to gain an early psychological advantage. And it`s a tactic that has worked very well indeed over the years, and one which has adversely affected many other of the so-called ‘lesser names` in Scottish football at various times.

Zaliukas in particular is a huge player for Hearts so you can see why his is one of the names in this story. It`s no coincidence that our form picked up when he came back from injury earlier in the season, and his is one of the positions that Hearts have no real cover for in terms of a player coming in who could exert the same sort of influence. If he was to be off the ball at the weekend, then it would most definitely give a weakened Rangers attack (the assumption is that Kenny Miller won`t be there) more of a chance of success.

The good thing is that this sort of thing shows that our opponents have something to worry about. Yes they may still come to Tynecastle on Saturday and deservedly win, but they`re obviously not completely confident of doing so without a bit of mischief-making, which really has to be taken as a compliment I suppose.

The mind games have started on our players?..I wonder who will be next? I guess the man in black is the most logical choice??.