Steven Naismith explains why Hearts are way ahead

Pre-season camp in Tenerife was a hugely positive start to the summer

Hearts touched down in Edinburgh late last night following a week-long training camp in Tenerife which laid vital foundations for the season ahead. Coaching staff arrived home thoroughly satisfied with their work at the T3 training complex on the south of the island, and confident they are even better prepared than 12 months ago.

Head coach Steven Naismith had only just been promoted from B team coach to first team this time last year, and consequently organisation was not as advanced as now. Hearts did triple training sessions in Tenerife to work on physical and tactical elements of their game, with a little respite and fun mixed in. It amounted to a very worthwhile exercise.

Yeah, it’s been excellent,” commented Naismith before travelling home. “It’s been excellent from the facility in terms of the training pitch but also the hotel and the proximity of everything. It has ticked everything we wanted to. The quality of work has been really good and we need to credit the players for that because there has not been one where we thought they’ve struggled, whether it be fitness or the tactical part. Everybody has been on it.

For Naismith and his coaching staff, the week has been full-on with little time to breathe in scorching 30-degree heat. “To be honest, there isn’t much time,” he said. “Especially the coaches with the other parts, whether it is recruitment, what we’ve got planned for going forward. We understand the next six months are going to be really hectic so we are trying to get as much of the work we can behind the scenes. We are doing that so there isn’t much downtime for us. A wee hour or so to play padel but other than that we’ve been busy. It’s not been one for resting.