shannon2007

With the Champions League campaign to tackle, I felt we might need a little bit of experience in the squad. And we also had to replace those players who, for whatever reason, decided to leave. Ronald Gutierrez retired, but as he hadn't played that much for us and wasn't very good anyway, he wouldn't be missed. Ignacio Martinez, who wasn't exactly happy about losing his place, eventually agreed to move to Aberdeen for £100,000 after turning down quite a few offers from Rangers. Youngster Gary Moffat was another player I had tried to move on, but who had turned down quite a few clubs before eventually agreeing a £350,000 move to Chelsea.

Two players the fans were not happy to see the back off were David Burke and Daniel Tozser, both stolen by Celtic in a combined deal worth £3.5M, which most Hearts fans felt was a bit cheap. Personally, I thought we had struck a decent enough deal, given that the fee was slightly more than both players combined minimum fee release clauses. Celtic, now under the new management of Gordon Strachan after the disgraceful sacking of Roy Aitken, had been well and truly conned. Ha ha.

Glenn Morris (28), despite being chased by a few clubs in the summer remains as our number one choice keeper. A decent season since his signing from Hull and its easy to see why he was so sought after as he made 11 shout outs from 21 starts. Youngster Mark Graham, who has just turned 21 will be hoping to break into the side and impress me enough for a Scotland call up. To be honest though, he has a lot of work to do on both fronts.

At right back, Vytas Vytautas (22) had a great season after coming to replace Sicot Cedric (23) when the Frenchman was injured. Both players are good, pacey full backs and its great to be able to have such a choice of personel, even though Sicot is not overly happy at being 2nd choice. Darren Thompson (29) continues to hold down the left back spot. He doesn't quite provide the pace and technique of his right back colleagues, but a good solid player who has rarely put a foot wrong and can't be faulted. Might have been knocking on the door of the Scotland squad if he was a bit younger - and indeed a bit better. Twenty seven year old Cypriot Giorgios Pelagias continues to be the back up in this position but gaining only six starts since his move from Forfar, he might be looking for a more regular game, although he is virtually guaranteed a place for his country whatever he does.

In the centre of defence, Spaniard Jesus Collado (25) is another who had a good season, and was thrilled to captain the side to the title. Last season he was partnered mainly by Burkina Faso international Lamine Traore (29), but the arrival of 25 year old former Italian U-21 cap Gian Diego Tipaldi from Feyenoord for £750,000 means Traore's place is in doubt. Tipaldi looks a decent player, who started his career at Juventus before heading to the bright lights of London and Arsenal. He spent most of his time there on loan to Huddersfield and Cardiff before being sold on to Feyenoord where he also failed to make much impact. Even so, he looks a player who can do a job for us and finally establish himself as a regular starter at a club. Bulgarian Adrian Olegov (27) also remains at the club and has done well enough when given the chance.

The midfield, of course, sees some new faces. Experience Italian Simone Perrotta (35) comes in on a free after being released by Middlesborough. Another Italian, 25 year old Stefano Menegat also arrives at the club in a £400,000 move from Monaco. Like Tipaldi, he is a former under 21 player, but has failed to make much impact and settle at a club. He is though a good player, and will be a more than adequate replacement for Burke. Charlie Adam (26), will feel he is knocking on the door of an international call up after a good season on the left side of the midfield. Whether he makes my first squad selection for the World Cup qualifier with Portugal, I very much doubt, but if he keeps up his level from last season he might have a chance for other matches. Seventeen year old Gary Sim is a player who is surely a future Scotland international himself. He has been used sparingly so far, with only four starts and ten sub appearances for the first team, but he is certainly a player who should make the grade. Another youngster who should make the grade is of course John Burns, who is just turning 19. Despite scoring the goal that clinched the title, his place in the team is far from guaranteed, although the departure of Tozser might give him a wee chance to take the role behind the strikers. I still can't decide if he is better here or up front, and really it's up to him to show me where his best position is. Ten goals from 23 starts and five sub appearance is something he certainly needs to improve on.

Fergus Tiernan (30), Lukasz Mozes (25) and Jiri Bilek (28) will all also be competing for places in the midfield. Mozes has done well enough, but the other two will probably not last if bids come in for them. Which so far they haven't.

Up front Neil Mellor (29) and Craig O'Reilly (25) were the main partnership last season. Their haul of 28 goals between them though isn't exactly that of a class pairing, and so I looked to the transfer market to see if anyone better could be found. Two million pounds saw the acquisition of Norwegian international Daniel Andersen (23) from Stabaek. Its a fair amount of money, but the player has certainly been scoring in Norway, with 51 goals from 73 games and would be expected to do just as well in Scotland. Competition for places up front though is bound to be fierce after the capture of 33 year old French veteran Nicolas Anelka who was release by Arsenal and 34 year old Ivory Coast international Didier Drogba who was released by Chelsea. They may be nearing the twilight of their careers, but their experience will be invaluable when we take on the Champions League.

Pre season was far from overly impressive as we lost 1-0 to Derby, and beat Swansea 4-2 and Norwich 2-0. But then, there is little point in going out and playing your utter best football when it doesn't count, is there. The Champions League saw us into the group stages automatically, only the 5th Scottish team to do so after the Old Firm, Dundee and Motherwell. The draw was difficult to assess, as we were in with Leverkusen, CSKA Moscow and Lyon. No doubt, three very good teams but we had a small feeling that we might just about be able to get 3rd place in this group, and with a little bit of luck even second. Of course, we were probably being stupidly optomistic.

retired_casondra

Awsome finish, and congrats, hope to see Scotland in the next World Cup Finals !

shannon2007

Thanks Rojitoz

shannon2007

Having a good European Champonships, and indeed a semi decent time under Souness, Scotland were actually ranked 9th in the world. The draw for the World Cup Qualifiers put us in with Portugal (12th), Switzerland (35th), Greece (93rd), Luxembourg (106th) and Azerbaijan (178th). Technically, we should have been favourites to win the group. Then again, this is Scotland and nothing is never that easy.

With the first match in September away to Portugal, and then being away to Greece in October before hosting Switzerland, it was certainly going to be a tough start. From the Hearts squad, only Charlie Adam and possibly Darren Thompson would have any legitimate claim to being included in the squad, but for now I felt it was better to leave them both out. I didn't want any accusations of bias. The line up them for Portugal would be :

(4-1-2-1-2):

GK: Craig Gordon (29) 70 caps, Birmingham.
LB: Steven Hammell (30) 8 caps, West Ham.
RB: Alan Hutton (26) 0 caps, Plymouth.
CD: Zander Diamond (27) 43 caps, 1 goal, Tottenham.
CD: Andy Webster (30) 39 caps, 2 goals, Aston Villa.
DM: Ian Murray (31) 53 caps, Celtic.
CM: Barry Ferguson (34) 73 caps, 16 goals, Birmingham.
CM: Gareth Williams (30) 5 caps, Rangers.
AM: Derek Riordan (29) 37 caps, 15 goals, Blackburn.
SC: Stephen Dobbie (30) 0 caps, Rangers.
SC: Scott Agnew (25) 19 caps, 1 goal, Rangers.

Subs: Paul Gallacher (GK) (33) 12 caps, West Brom; Gary Caldwell (30) 25 caps, Bolton; Patrick Scullion (26) 9 caps, Celtic; Stephen Pearson (30) 37 caps, Celtic; Darren Fletcher (28) 55 caps 12 goals, Manchester United; David Clarkson (27) 12 caps 5 goals, Fulham; Garry O'Connor (29) 49 caps 23 goals, West Brom.

A lot of fuss was made in the press about the fact few of our players were home based, and it was hardly a squad lacking in experience. But having just reached a major semi final, I didn't feel the squad needed that much changing overall, just a few tweaks to bring in players like Dobbie and Hutton and to fit players into my system. I was happy that we could go to Portugal and pick up a decent result. Expectations were sky in Scotland of course, and there was a fair bit of pressure on us to succeed and continue the countries rise back up the rankings. After a good start, in which we dominated possession, Derek Riordan became the first player to score under my management as we took the lead on just 16 minutes.

It was certainly a far cry from the dark days of B*rti V*gts, but Portugal were no mugs either, and ten minutes later they were level through Andrade. A good first half from us as we went in level at the break, and nine minutes after the restart Riordan sent us back into the lead, with good play again between him and Dobbie and they certainly seemed to be gelling well enough. Hopes of an excellent away win though were thwarted when Cristiano Ronaldo pulled Portugal level just three minutes later and although we at time outplayed the Portuguese the third goal wouldn't come and we had to settle for a decent enough draw.

Ratings: Gordon 8, Diamond 8, Hammell 7, Hutton 8, Webster 7, Murray 8, Williams 8, Riordan (2) 8, Ferguson 7, Dobbie 8, Agnew 8.

retired_trainer

Wow....Woderfull read Mr Peace. The thrills, the spills and the joy.

I've just killed an hour at work catching up with your well crafted story.

Congratulations to your Hearts (in their mouths) fans and good luck with the Scotland job. I grew up a stones throw from Sommerset Park (now living in Oz) so i'll be hoping for a long overdue World Cup run to glory.

:thup: :thup: :thup:

retired_trainer

<STRIKE>wonderfull</STRIKE>...wonderful!

shannon2007

Thanks again Rukus. Are you as mad as HD about the 'Honest' men

shannon2007

Stupidly optimistic.

The season had started badly, and was getting worse and worse. The title party had been a great occasion at home to Aberdeen as we opened the season for real, but once the actual match got underway it was clear everything was not as it should have been and we struggled to a dissapointing goalless draw. Still, title parties are notorious for going wrong, and we could put it down to a one off. Which didn't explain the lacklustre showing at Tannadice as we went down 1-0.

Yet event that could be explained, as after all United had almost taken the title last season and when goals from Drogba and Mellor gave us a 2-0 win over Celtic, it seemed there really was little to worry about and perhaps it was just taking the new players time to settle and the Champagne to get out of the players systems. Alarm bells were really starting to ring though as we travelled to Dunfermline and got gubbed 2-0. This wasn't what I expected from a title winning side, and with a trip to Moscow looming for our first ever Champions League match, the match at Forfar became even more vital.

It wasn't a great match, but a second half brace from the seemingly improving John Burns sent us on our way with a bit of confidence and credibility restored. The match in Moscow started off extremely well for us, as CSKA defender Krasnov was rather harshly red carded in the very first minute for holding back Anelka. Perhaps a yellow card would have been more appropriate, but we could only accept the help from the referee. The match was far from a classic, but although the Russians were down to 10 men, the still proved tough to break down and in the end we had to settle for a goalless draw, and our first ever Champions League point.

The result in Moscow certainly seemed to lift the team a little, as we easily dispossed of Gretna 3-1 with goals from the so far dissapointing £2m signing Andersen, Burns and Drogba also getting on the scoresheet. It was Nicolas Anelka's turn to score against Dundee, John Burns continued his early scoring form from the penalty spot and Gary Sim came off the bench to grab his first ever senior goal. Dundee were well beaten and it was shaping up well for the visit of Leverkusen.

Given our start to the season, it was easy to see why most people seemed to believe we didn't have much chance against the Germans. The last three match though had sent confidence soaring again, and we were ready to win this match and set us up for the season. With just two minutes gone though, Tynecastle was silenced as Leverkusen took the lead, and there suddenly a fear that we were in for a right good thrashing.

Much to their credit though, the players didn't let the early loss get to them and just ten minutes later Nicolas Anelka showed why we had brought him to the club as he pulled us level. Five minutes after the restart, John Burns again found the net as he finally started to deliver as I had always known he could. It was a great match, and as you would expect the Germans were always dangerous. As time ran out, they won a corner and sent everyone forward, including their keeper, seeking out a desperate last gasp equaliser. The corner was a poor one, landing at the feet of Tipaldi on the edge of the area, and with great vision he picked out Daniel Andersen who was just on the halfway line. With the German keeper still racing to get back, Andersen had an open goal as he ran forward and from just over the half way line hit a great shot into the empty net and we had pulled off a superb, glorious victory.

As luck would have it, after our great European night we had to travel to Ibrox in the League. With confidence high, we should have been able to at least challenge a fairly poor Rangers side. With Stephen Dobbie grabbing a hattrick, we were woeful on the day and the final score of 5-0 was as disgraceful as it sounds. And it could have been a whole lot worse. Yet if the support believed the Rangers result was a fluke, perhaps the result of a Euro hangover, they were about to recieve a bit of a shock. A stunningly poor performance saw us come away from Fir Park with a 2-1 defeat, goalscorer Charlie Adam one of very few players to come away with any credit at all.

Needless to say, there was again a feeling of utter dread as Lyon came to Tynecastle in the Champions League. Neil Mellor though was the hero this time as he sent us into a 9th minute lead and then restored our lead again on 66 minutes after Lyon had equalized. Our hopes of another fine win though were thwarted as Lyon levelled again and we had to settle for a not too un-decent draw. Back in the league though, things were not to get better. Daniel Andersen gave us a 6th minute lead at Tynecastle over Hibs, but whatever it was that getting into these players, they proceeded to throw away another match and we ended up losing 2-1. A further 2-1 defeat at Falkirk saw us sit in a disgusting 8th place after having played everyone, a full 13 points behind leaders Celtic.

October ended with the return Champions League match in Lyon. The French slickly took the lead on 21 minutes and when Jiri Bilek was red carded after 36, the match was beyong our reach, confirmed as Abidal sent Lyon two ahead just seconds later. Three more goals in the second half saw us slump to another 5-0 defeat, and even this early in the season I was starting to wonder if it might be time to quit. I was sure most people would understand if I said I wanted to devote myself wholly to Scotland. Even if it was a total cop out.

shannon2007

After a good enough result away to Portugal, the second match in the attempt of Scotland to reach the 2014 World Cup Final in Brazil would take place in Greece. With our world ranking and prestige as high as they'd ever been, with a Semi Final of the Euro's just completed and having reached the knock out phase of the 2010 World Cup - where we lost to Euro 2012 conquerors Italy by 1-0 - there was a feeling that Scotland had gone as high and as far as we could. Surely it would all start to totally unravel, and this trip to Greece would be a good pointed as to how far down the road to unravelling the national team was.

Greece had failed to make the last two World Cup Finals, and had also failed to make Euro 2012, due in no small part to being in Scotland's qualifying section. A 1-0 win in Greece and a 1-1 draw at Hampden had been the results then, and so although the Greeks were perhaps not as good as they once were, they would still be a tough nut to crack. Their opening 2-1 away defeat at Switzerland though told us that we didn't really have that much to fear.

For this match, both Charlie Adam and Darren Thomson were called up to the squad, although they would both be on the bench. Despite our less than brilliant start to the season at Hearts, Adam had been one of our few consistanly decent performers, and being left footed also helped. Similiarly, left back didn't seem to be our strongest position, and although Steven Hammell was first choice for sure, Thomson was in my opinion at least, a good enough back up. The team had played well enough in Portugal, and so with no injuries to first eleven it would be the same line up:



4-1-2-1-2):

GK: Craig Gordon (29) 71 caps, Birmingham.
LB: Steven Hammell (30) 9 caps, West Ham.
RB: Alan Hutton (26) 1 caps, Plymouth.
CD: Zander Diamond (27) 44 caps, 1 goal, Tottenham.
CD: Andy Webster (30) 40 caps, 2 goals, Aston Villa.
DM: Ian Murray (31) 54 caps, Celtic.
CM: Barry Ferguson (34) 74 caps, 16 goals, Birmingham.
CM: Gareth Williams (30) 6 caps, Rangers.
AM: Derek Riordan (29) 38 caps, 17 goals, Blackburn.
SC: Stephen Dobbie (30) 1 caps, Rangers.
SC: Scott Agnew (25) 20 caps, 1 goal, Rangers.

Subs: Paul Gallacher (GK) (33) 12 caps, West Brom; Charlie Adam (26) 0 caps, Hearts; Patrick Scullion (26) 9 caps, Celtic; Stephen Pearson (30) 37 caps, Celtic; Darren Fletcher (28) 55 caps 12 goals, Manchester United; Darren Thomson (29) 0 caps, Hearts; Garry O'Connor (29) 49 caps 23 goals, West Brom.

We expected a hard match against a Greek side who may not be the best team in the world, but who would certainly know how to fight for every ball. A goalless first half was not without its excitements, but we were happy enough to be level, and overall a draw would not be a disaster. Just before the hour mark we finally got the goal that our play just about deserved - although the manner of its creation was slightly ludicrous. Barry Ferguson had sent a poor effort wide of goal, but Greek keeper Sifakis goal kick was shocking, landing right at the feet of an incredulous Scott Agnew who happily danced into the area and slotted the ball home for only his second ever Scotland goal. Agnew's delight would turn to grief as he was red carded in the final minute of play, but he was still in the clouds after a goal he probably shouldn't have had - a goal that was to win the match. With 64 minutes gone, Gareth Williams and Barry Ferguson,- neither of whom were particularly outstanding - were withdrawn to be replaced by Darren Fletcher and debut boy Charlie Adam. There was no fairytale stuff from Adam, but he played well enough.

In the end, a decent performance and whats more important a very good away win and three points in the bag on the road to Brazil.

Ratings: Gordon 8, Diamond 8, Hammell 8, Hutton 8, Webster 7, Murray 7, Williams 7, Riordan 7, Ferguson 6, Dobbie 8, Agnew S/O 90 (1) 7. Subs: Adam (on 64) 7, Fletcher (on 64) 7

shannon2007

Four days later, we finally had our first game at Hampden under my charge and of course the first of this World Cup Qualifying campaign. Switzerland are far from the most illustrious nation in world football, but it's certainly true that, like a lot of nations, they have become a force that at least you can no longer take lightly. With 2-1 home wins over Greece and Luxembourg, the Swiss were off and flying, but we expected to bring them crashing back down to earth a bang.

There would, of course, have to be changes this time. Scott Agnew was suspended and Stephen Dobbie had picked up and injury. That meant a rejigging of the forward line as James McFadden and Ross McCormack came into the side. The rest of the starting eleven remained unchanged though.

(4-1-2-1-2):

GK: Craig Gordon (29) 73 caps, Birmingham.
LB: Steven Hammell (30) 10 caps, West Ham.
RB: Alan Hutton (26) 2 caps, Plymouth.
CD: Zander Diamond (27) 45 caps, 1 goal, Tottenham.
CD: Andy Webster (30) 41 caps, 2 goals, Aston Villa.
DM: Ian Murray (31) 55 caps, Celtic.
CM: Barry Ferguson (34) 75 caps, 16 goals, Birmingham.
CM: Gareth Williams (30) 7 caps, Rangers.
AM: Derek Riordan (29) 38 caps, 17 goals, Blackburn.
SC: James McFadden (29) 81 caps, 22 goals Birmingham.
SC: Ross McCormack (26) 34 caps, 9 goals, Tottenham.

Subs: Paul Gallacher (GK) (33) 12 caps, West Brom; Charlie Adam (26) 1 cap, Hearts; Patrick Scullion (26) 9 caps, Celtic; Stephen Pearson (30) 37 caps, Celtic; Darren Fletcher (28) 56 caps 12 goals, Manchester United; Darren Thomson (29) 0 caps, Hearts; Garry O'Connor (29) 49 caps 23 goals, West Brom.

If the Tartan Army were expecting us to go out and blow Switzerland away - and no doubt there were a section who did expect this - they were soon to be dissapointed. This was to be a dour and stuffy match, with not a lot to write home about as the Swiss very effectively put up a brick wall that our forwards found very tough to break down. An injury to Zander Diamond after just 14 minutes was a blow defensively, but Patrick Scullion came on performed well enough.

As the match wore on, nothing seemed to give and I decided to bring off Ross McCormack and move Derek Riordan up front, sending on Charlie Adam to play in the 'hole'. This isn't a position I use Adam very much at Hearts, but I know he can do a job there if needed and I felt Riordan could do more damage as an out and out striker. And indeed, just five minutes after the introduction of the Hearts midfielder, we finally broke the deadlock. Adam started the move on the halfway line, playing a short pass to Williams who sent Riordan through, but being too heavily marked he had little chance to score and instead played the ball to Adam who had kept up his run and thundered the ball into the back of the net for his first ever international goal.

It was a match in which we were rarely in any danger of losing, but for a long spell looked as if we would have to settle for a draw. In the end, the slender 1-0 win was good enough for me - it gave us all three points. With three friendlies now due before Luxembourg arrived at Hampden in March, we could use these to consolidate the squad and perhaps introduce one or two new players. Or perhaps not.

Ratings: Gordon 7, Diamond (inj 14) 6, Hammell 7, Hutton 7, Webster 7, Murray 7, Williams 7, Riordan 8, Ferguson 7, McCormack 7, McFadden 7. Subs: Scullion (on 14) 7, Adam (on 66) (1) 7