Steven Naismith reveals Hearts’ attitude after the mass brawl with Hibs and details a key factor for Saturday’s derby
When your previous meeting descended into a mass on-field brawl between players, coaches, staff and stewards, it would be understandable were Hearts and Hibs slightly distracted entering Saturday’s Edinburgh derby. Same teams, same venue, same passion, but hopefully different scenes at the end this time.
May’s fixture between the sides finished 1-1 as Hearts beat Hibs to fourth place in the Premiership. At full-time, employees from both clubs decided to forego the usual pleasantries and instead engage in something resembling a WWE Royal Rumble.
An unseemly fracas erupted when former Hibs manager Lee Johnson jabbed a fist into the then-interim Hearts manager Steven Naismith after shaking hands. Rocky Bushiri, the Hibs defender, wrestled with opponents including the Tynecastle club’s goalkeeping coach, Paul Gallacher, and football secretary, Clare Cowan.
The anger spilled onto the pitch, resulting in Scottish Football Association fines for both clubs. There were two-game bans for Bushiri and Hearts substitute goalkeeper, Ross Stewart, who threw a hot water bottle into the technical area during the mayhem.
Johnson was sacked by Hibs in August and will obviously have no involvement this time. Bushiri is still with the Easter Road club, and much of the Tynecastle squad remains the same. Naismith is now permanent head coach but took no part in May’s drama after walking away following Johnson’s jab. Naismith is not concerned about potential bad blood lingering between anyone involved in the scuffling.
“No, I don’t think so,” he told the Evening News. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ve played in a lot of derbies in my time. They are always heated affairs and there is always a lot of emotion in them. I’m not going to sit here and say nothing is going to happen. Derbies are like that.
“There is nothing that lingers on from last season. Ultimately, in that game, we got the result we needed under extremely tough circumstances. We had a red card so early [for Alex Cochrane] and Hibs scored from the resultant free-kick.
“We took a lot of positives from that game after showing a lot of resilience. There have been moments this season where we have shown resilience as a collective. Rosenborg away: We have a poor performance and we are behind in the tie. Then we play them at home and the way we played that night showed our resilience.
“Last week, Kilmarnock pull us back to 1-1 in a Viaplay Cup tie and are having a lot of the ball and putting pressure on during the last 20 minutes. We managed to work our way from not having much pressure to having lots of pressure and getting the winning goal. There are loads of moments I can pick which show the resilience of this group.”
Hearts’ attitude is simply to move on. Naismith finds himself up against a new opponent in Johnson’s replacement, Nick Montgomery. Two wins and two draws is Montgomery’s record to date at Easter Road and he brings his flexible 4-4-2 system to Tynecastle hoping to prise three vital points.
“We have watched a lot of their stuff,” explained Naismith. “When a new manager comes in, there is inevitably a change in style. Every new manager tries to put their own stamp on things. You need to get up to speed with what they do and I think there is a bit of a change from where Hibs were to now.
“They have obviously got creative forward players with pace who can cause you problems. I think they are trying to play more passes now than they did before. There is a change in the way they are playing so that’s something we have noticed. Like every game, we put a plan together of how we want to be out of possession and how we want to be in possession. It’s ultimately us causing them more problems than they cause us.”
Perhaps the biggest positive for Hearts is midfielder Cammy Devlin’s impending return after a head knock. The diminutive Australian adds a verve to the central area which is missed in his absence. He has become an integral part of the team under Naismith and is now considered a pivotal figure.
“Cammy has done well this season. I speak to him quite a bit about his development and the areas he needs to improve,” said Naismith. “His energy is infectious and I think that’s an underrated quality. People maybe don’t value it as highly as other attributes but it’s massively important. Then it’s his decision-making with the ball.
“Because of the energy, Cammy sets the press at times but you can’t just go and press at every opportunity. He needs to manage those moments. Can we put pressure on, or do we need to wait for a certain pass to happen before we press? It’s small details.
“Every player has areas to improve but, for Cammy, those are the areas we spoke about. I think we are seeing improvement, which is credit to him. This season, he has probably played the most out of all the No.6s in the squad. He is a really hard worker who just wants the team to win.
“He tries to bring that out in others. You see it every day in training. He is a real team player. He will learn a lot from the likes of Beni Baningime, who is experienced in top-level football. He has definitely progressed from last season. He just signed a new contract so that shows the club hold him in high esteem.”
One man does not a winning team make, however. “Our thing that we constantly look at is the bigger picture,” added Naismith. “Where our results in this short period will take us come March, April, May, when there are things you can win. It’s a derby, it’s a big game, the atmosphere will be electric, that will be the biggest motivation. It will be about getting the win to push us further up the table and also beating your rivals.”
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