It’s not nice but it’s the nature of football and there’s huge stakes on this weekend’s Edinburgh Derby in Leith.
I got Pat Fenlon sacked as Hibs boss. Correction, my Hearts team did. It’s just that I was the one lucky enough to score the goal in a 1-0 League Cup quarter final derby win at Easter Road back in 2011.
Nobody gave us a chance because we were bottom of the league. But we turned up and did a number on Hibs in their own backyard. Fenlon was under huge pressure going into the game. Two days later he was given his jotters.
You can probably tell where this is going… If I was heading across the city on Sunday morning I’d be going there wanting to get David Gray the tin tack. It’s a horrible thing to say. Brutal actually. It might not sound like it, but I like Gray. He comes across well and he’s extremely well thought of in coaching circles.
But you’ve got to be ruthless in this business. And there’s no doubt he’s under huge pressure. Forget everything else on Sunday – all Hearts players should want to do is win and put a nail in Hibs’ and Gray’s coffin.
I thoroughly expect them to get that win. Nothing about Hibs worries me. The only team that can beat Hearts on Sunday is themselves. The simply can’t get ahead of themselves after Saturday’s 4-0 thumping of St Mirren.
What a start that was for Neil Critchley. I made clear I had serious doubts about his appointment but that I would be 100 per cent behind him when the football started. Seeing him go back to basics and play two up front from the off absolutely won me over.
I’ve been banging the drum about two strikers all season. Tynecastle is just set up for teams to play with two strikers and be direct. It’s what I thrived off all my career – having someone to play with. Football is all about partnerships whether that’s in defence, midfield or up front.
I had Rudi Skacel beside me at Hearts for a year or two. I understood I had to do 80 per cent of the work and when the ball fell to Rudi he would go and stick it in the net. The same when I was up front with Kevin Kyle. My first ever goal for Hearts against Inverness came after Kevin said ‘every time the ball comes up to me make sure you’re within five yards’.
Two minutes into the second half he knocked one down and I scored. When you’re playing alone up front it’s the loneliest and hardest job in the world. When the ball comes to you there’s nobody round you unless you are absolutely dominating a team.
So it was brilliant to see Critchley go with two on Saturday. The goals they scored against St Mirren were tremendous. The opener was a brilliant bit of play by Kenneth Vargas and then a lovely finish – but the ball to him from Lawrence Shankland was sublime. If Hearts can emulate that kind of performance against Omonia Nicosia tomorrow night then the swing in momentum going to Easter Road three days later will be frightening.
Some say the game against Omonia is a distraction the players could do without before the derby. Not at all. I remember falling out with Paulo Sergio back in 2011 when he rested me for the return Euro tie against Tottenham down in London. He said I was sitting it out because we had Hibs three days later at Tynecastle.
I was raging with him. He rested three or four of us. I told him ‘this is what I’m built for’. The tie was over after Spurs had hammered us in Edinburgh in the first leg but it was a chance to go and play at a Premier League ground in Europe. Win, lose or draw I’d have been bouncing into the weekend derby.
As it was I ended up scoring and we beat Hibs 2-0 anyway. So maybe Paulo would say he was right. But I say he was wrong. As a player you just want to play every game and the bigger the better. This is the pinnacle of being a footballer.
I’m sure Critchley will put out what he believes is his strongest XI. There’s so much to be gained for Hearts if they can beat the Cypriots in Gorgie. I’m confident they will to make it two wins from two games and put one foot into at least the play-off positions.
Then the players can put their full focus on Hibs. And driving them deeper into the mire.
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