Planet Hearts - (Page 7)

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Silence follows clear the air talks By SHAUN MILNE HEARTS new skipper Craig Gordon arrived for his 39-minute-long briefing with the club’s director of infrastructure Pedro Lopez, dressed smartly and sporting dark shades. When he emerged, flanked by the SPFA’s representative Fraser Wishart, he was said to have been “quite happy” by the initial meeting held at Tynecastle. Details of the discussion remain confidential, but sources say the talks may have helped “clear the air” and redefine what is expected of Gordon. Wishart, speaking on behalf of his member, said: “He’s captain of Heart of Midlothian Football Club, he’s looking forward to the games coming up, and is going to have a big derby game next Tuesday. I think he’s quite H Gordon’s superb form and consistency over the past two seasons have seen him establish himself as Scotland’s No.1 and his eye-catching displays have attracted many admirers, with a number of Premiership clubs, including Arsenal, continuing to monitor his progress. Some have questioned the wisdom of appointing a goalkeeper to lead the team, the argument being that he can’t influence a team to the same extent as an outfield player. But Smith has watched Gordon’s every move over the past few years and insists that the 23-year-old has all the traits needed to be a top skipper and to galvanise the side as they bid to turn their season around. “Craig’s an inspiration to the team,” says the former Tynecastle keeper. “He’s been playing consistently well for a long time now. He makes the big saves and he’s kept the team in games on numerous occasions. “It’s a continental practice to appoint keepers captain. The likes of Dino Zoff, Oliver Kahn and Iker Casillas are the types of players who OFFICER MATERIAL: Gordon in action and right, Oliver Kahn Legend Henry says Gordon can be one of the great goalkeping captains, writes Simon Cox inspire teams to go on and win games – and that’s exactly what Craig does. “He has the ability to build up his teammates’ confidence by keeping the ball out of the net and that’s why they’ve made him captain. “A good captain needs to voice his opinion, make sure his fellow players take note of what he’s saying and get them fired up on the park – and those are qualities that Craig has.” How long Gordon will get to prove his leadership abilities is subject to speculation. With the transfer window set to open in just over a week, Hearts could soon find their resolve tested as potential suitors circle their talented star. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has already been credited with an interest and with the Gunners’ No1 Jens Lehmann having refused a one-year deal, the London club are again being linked with a move for the Scotland international. Smith said: “Personally I think he’ll still be there after January but I think the club will have a fight on their hands in the summer if he continues the way he has been playing because I know for a fact that he’s being watched by Premiership clubs. “When you’re a footballer you want to play at the highest level and Craig is no different. He has the attributes to play in the Premiership so the sky’s the limit. “It will be a big loss for Hearts when he does leave and I think he’ll eventually go at some point. But he’s in no rush because his contract runs for another two years and I’m sure Hearts will want to hang onto him. “It depends which club he goes to. He wants first team football so he can keep his Scotland place. He has to take that on board.” Gordon appeared to escape sanctions at a disciplinary hearing at Tynecastle on Tuesday, the result of backing Steven Pressley when the former skipper criticised the way the club was being run. Midfielder Paul Hartley was omitted from the starting line-up against Aberdeen last Saturday, two days after attending a hearing over his support for the statement. But Smith doesn’t expect the same fate for Gordon, who is expected to retain the armband for the trip to Dundee United on Saturday. And the former Jambos shotstopper urged the Hearts hierarchy to start fielding their strongest XI. Smith said: “We don’t know what happened as it’s confidential between player and club. But I’m happy things seem to have been resolved I can’t see Craig being dropped. “Hearts need to get back on track. We are dropping too many points, especially at home. We should beat teams like St Mirren, Falkirk and Dunfermline at Tynecastle, no problem. “We must put a run together soon or we could be in the bottom six. Six points from the next two games and we’re back on track – but it’s not easy. “The confidence factor worries me. When things aren’t going well you need someone who can pinch a goal or create chances – yet the only person who seemed capable of that was sat on the bench against Aberdeen. “We only started buzzing when Paul Hartley came on. If you leave your best players and your matchwinners on the bench you won’t win – and you’re relying on big Craig keeping the shots out.” Hearts face three tricky away games at Dundee United, Kilmarnock and Dunfermline with the Boxing Day derby sandwiched in between. Smith added: “They had the platform after winning the Scottish Cup and qualifying for the Champions League and everything seemed well. “But they shot themselves in the foot. I’m disappointed at how things have gone. “Hopefully Valdas can get things going and it starts by picking the best team, not having a rotation system. “In some games five or six players have had to pull out 120% because others aren’t pulling their weight. If Valdas can get everyone playing for each other then we still have a chance.” TOP GEAR: Craig arrives for his Tynecastle meeting honoured to be captain of Hearts. I don’t think he’s had problems in recent weeks.” Gordon is without doubt Hearts’ most valuable asset as a player, and responsible for helping earn a clutch of points in games that could have otherwise been lost. He has had to endure the dismantling of a defence with the losses of first Andy Webster, followed by Steven Pressley, and the benching of Robbie Neilson in recent weeks. A makeshift defence looked unsure playing together on Saturday with Ibrahim Tall and Jose Goncalves playing out of their natural positions. But with the Romanov regime making it clear they are still in the process of restructuring the team, it appears for now, at least, that they want Gordon – who celebrates his birthday on Hogmanay – to remain a part of it. Warning : Unknown : The session id contains invalid characters, valid characters are only a-z, A-Z and 0-9 in Unknown on line 0 Warning : Unknown : Failed to write session data files . Please verify that the current setting of session.save_path is correct /var/lib/php/session in Unknown on line 0

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Planet Hearts

Planet Hearts