10th August 2019 Hearts v Ross County 0-0

I have been thinking very carefully about what to write here as I do not want to be accused about being negative and I hope that my thoughts do not offend anyone. The day started out not badly and after lunch I met Craig and his children Harper and Harmoni who now all have season tickets. They parked in the car park at our flat and the four of us walked down to Tynecastle together. After Craig had bought the kids juice and food we parted company as they are in a different section of the main stand to me. I took my seat around 14.40 ready for the kick-off. A guy took the seat next to me and I thought the usual inhabitants of the two seats to my left had either given up their tickets or switched seats. When they turned up it was established that the guy in the seat should have been in Section P and not section Q.

Hearts had made four changes to the side who lost 32 at Aberdeen last week. Out went Aaron Hickey, suspended after his red card last week, the injured John Souttar, Jake Mulraney and Andy Irving. In came second half substitutes last week, Steven Naismith and Conor Washington along with debutants Aidy White and Loic Damour. Naismith signed a new four year deal on 1st August with the club. He had been on loan at Tynecastle for the last eighteen months but his contract with parent club Norwich City expired on 30 June. He could not sign until 1st August as his Norwich contract stipulated he would reive a further moths wages , estimated at £160,000, if he remained a free agent for one month after expiry of his Norwich deal. A four year deal is good for Naismith and the club given his influence on the side but I worry that a long deal for a 32 year old may not be best practice given his injury record. White was making his first competitive appearance after thirty-one month absence due to injury sustained at Barnsley while Damour, a midfield player, was signed from Cardiff in midweek, again on a four year deal. Damour is 28 years old and the length of the deal gives him added security as Hearts would not be able to match the wages he received at Cardiff. Ross County beat Hamilton last week and fielded a similar side with plenty of SPL experience. Their star player is striker Billy McKay who has been a consistent goal-scorer in his career to date. He did however, like Hearts Jamie Walker, fail to hit it off after a move to Wigan Athletic from Inverness.

Hearts started well and after four minutes Washington forced good save from Ross Laidlaw in the County goal. he latched on to a header from Sean Clare over the top of the County backline wide on the left inside the penalty area. He tried for goal but Laidlaw pushed his low shot behind for  corner. Minutes later County created their first chance when Bobby Zlamal was forced to punch a corner clear. The ball fell to Josh Mullin on the edge of the penalty box and his volley forced Zlamal into  leaping save to push the ball way for another corner. Washington broke free after half an hour but was again wide wide of the goal and Laidlaw saved his effort. There-after Hearts huffed and puffed but were unable to create any further chances although Ross Stewart should have done better for County when he was presented with a  free header from yet another corner.

The start of the second half provided a shock as Naismith remained in the dressing room, replaced by Jake Mulraney. Later it was confirmed that he had a tight calf and was taking off as a precaution. Naismith makes a huge difference to Hearts not only for his own skill and effort but also he never stops talking to and encouraging his team-mates. He was not having one of his better games in the first half but could be seen communicating to his team-mates throughout his time on the pitch. The second half was a complete disaster from a Hearts point of view. County hit the post after about fifteen minutes when Michael Gardyne beat Michael Smith and sent in a cross from the left which deceived Zlamal and bounced away of the far post. After sixty-nine minutes Ross Stewart was played in by a ball over the top. Thankfully he blazed the ball high over the bar with only Zlamal to beat. Zlamal then came charging out to meet another through ball and collided with Christophe Berra, who was shepherding the ball back towards the keeper, just inside the penalty box. The ball flew past the grounded pair but thankfully Smith got back to clear before a county forward could get to the loose ball. In eighty-two minutes County were awarded penalty when White brought down Count's Marcus Fraser in the area. I had no complaints about the award but felt the assistant referee should have flagged for a free-kick against County when Fraser pulled White's shirt outside the box before he muscled past him. Ex-Hibs player Brian Graham took the kick and slammed the ball against  Zlamal's right hand post. The ball broke to Gardyne wide on the left of the box and his effort clipped the near post before going out of play for a goal-kick. During all this action Hearts main tactic seemed to be hitting a high ball upfield for Ikpeazu, before he was substituted by Euan Henderson, and afterwards hoping for a mistake by a county defender allowing a chance for a Hearts forward. Sean Clare did try a run from the half-way line but was being pushed all the way by a County defence and when he finally fell just outside the penalty area no foul was awarded.

The final whistle came as a relief and I walked unhappily home. While the statistics showed 50/50 possession County had thirteen shots as opposed to three by Hearts. Craig Levein has always been manger who sets up his teams not to lose rather than to wins games. However now it seems that the style of football is getting worse game by game and the players do not seem comfortable. Good players like Walker and Clare, despite what other fans may think of them, are not getting the opportunity to show their skills and bring team-mates into the game as balls are hammered upfield over their heads. Levein keeps talking about how good the young players are at Hearts but does to seem to want to give them a run in the side. For example, Henderson made his first competitive appearance today since season 2017/18 albeit he was out on loan last season. I can only see this as a long hard season for Hearts unless changes are made, and quickly.

Teams
Hearts: Zlamal, M. Smith, White, Halkett, Damour, Berra, Walker, Clare, Ikpeazu, Washington, Naismith.
Subs: Mulraney, Henderson, Bozanic
Ross County; Laidlaw, Fraser, Kelly, Fontaine, Morris, Draper, Gardyne, Mullin, McKay, Stewart, Vigurs.
Subs: Spittal, Graham.