COMMENTS, LIKE passes, can be disastrous if given the wrong weight. In his post-match press conference after the 0-0 draw last Saturday, Mixu Paatelainen talked of Hearts as a physical force but claimed that his team had the passing ability to better their rivals.
The Hibs manager probably didn't intend to offer his Tynecastle counterpart motivational fodder, but it seems he did. Several days later and the assertions were still plaguing Csaba Laszlo. Asked if the stalemate meant the managers had to go back to
the drawing board in a bid to outwit each other, he responded: "I don't look for Hibs, I don't talk, for example, about Hibs. Some managers think it's something special if you talk negative about your opponents."
Obviously peeved by Paatelainen's assessment, he said the words could yet come back and hit him in the head. "OK, this is his opinion, but I didn't see that in the game! It's what I told you before. To talk about the other team and what you'll do ... I think you must always be a little bit careful. You must think after the game because your words can be a boomerang a lot of the time!
"I always say you should respect your opponents. If you don't respect your opponent you will never win the game because he will punch back. You must be a little careful. I already know my team and I know Hibs' weaknesses and their strong points too. I try and point my team in this direction but I don't go in the newspapers to talk about something which isn't important. I think you lose a lot of time and energy doing this. That's why I have a big respect for Hibs and I also have a big respect for Hibs supporters… not just Hearts supporters! It doesn't interest me what he does at Easter Road because that's his job. I do my job and believe me, if I talk about my opponent, I don't care who it is, I always talk about them with respect."
In the past, pub team slurs have been directed at Hearts and if those rankled with the Gorgie support, Paatelainen's latest comments have undoubtedly riled Laszlo.
"Believe me, I have worked at a very high level and I've met a lot of very famous managers. From Carlos Alberto Perreira to Berti Vogts, I could mention lots of names I've worked with and, if I'm honest, Walter Smith and the Celtic manager Gordon Strachan and Craig Levein only talk about what is necessary. They don't talk negatively about what is good and what's bad about my team. I had a drink with Mixu Paatelainen after Saturday's game and I shook his hand. I have made it clear there should always be respect between managers, but I didn't speak to Mixu about his comments."
In the heat of derby battle, he said he knew that tempers could become frayed and perspective skewed but said that keeping peace in the stands and getting the best performance on the field relied on the key protagonists keeping a clear head.
"For me it's not only important to have passion in a derby, it's also important to have a clear head. The derby will always be won if you can think very clearly and keep your emotions under control. You can punish yourself with too many emotions.
"I always tell my players if they can find the right balance between emotion and performance then they'll be 100% sure to win the derby. The mental performance is often the most important thing in these derbies."
After last weekend, the most important thing will be goals. Laszlo recognises that. Bemoaning the number of points dropped in the league due to drawing rather than winning games, he says even that is not a luxury they can afford. In knockout competition someone has to win.
"OK, we could make a draw and come back here but then we would have the next game and the opponent would still have a chance. In the league we lose two (points] against Hibs here, we lose two against Hibs at Easter Road, we lose two points against Aberdeen and we lose two points against Dundee United. If you saw the games against Aberdeen and Dundee United and Hibs, you saw enough chances for 10 games and this is what makes me sad and unsatisfied. But that was the league and now we must concentrate on the cup."
Having added a defeat at the hands of Motherwell on Wednesday to that catalogue of complaints, the side will have to reorganise, with Marius Zaliukas and Lee Wallace, who missed last Saturday's clash, coming back in, while Robbie Neilson's suspension means he will watch from the stand.
Laszlo feels the chopping and changing has not aided his side but regardless of the weaknesses, he says they still deserve respect. "I want their fans to respect my team because I respect theirs. You can support Hibs, Rangers or Celtic when you are a fan. But when you are a manager it's important not to lose face with anyone because you never know what is going to happen." Even possibly managing a rival team in the future.
"Maybe I'll have the possibility to work for Hibs or Dundee United one day. What are you supposed to say then? 'Sorry for everything I said in the past about this team ... I really liked it!' No, no, no, you can't turn round and say: 'Now that I'm here my dream was always to come here, even though for the last five months I've only talked sh*t about your club!' No, this is not possible. You should always be respectful to every club and every fan!
"There are a lot of problems in Scottish football, but the only way we will solve them is if we work together. All the managers, all the players, the media, we must all work together to bring Scottish football to a higher level."
Still new to Scottish derbies, Laszlo's sentiments may be laudable, but the reality is they will probably have to take a back seat this afternoon.
Give us a goal, urges StewartWHEN Hearts last met Hibs in the Scottish Cup three years ago, a hat-trick from Paul Hartley helped the Gorgie side to a memorable 4-0 win as they went on to claim the trophy.
However, the lack of potency among the front men at Tynecastle these days has left even Csaba Laszlo's men admitting that a repeat of the 2006 scoreline won't be on the cards.
"It would be asking a lot for a repeat of that 4-0 win," admitted midfielder Michael Stewart. "At the moment it's just a case of making sure that we get a good result: whether that's 1-0, 2-0 or 4-0 doesn't really matter as long as we go through."
Hearts have currently gone 428 minutes since Andrew Driver's goal earned a point against Celtic at Parkhead.
"Of course we need to start scoring again because goals win games and we need to try and rectify that as a team," admitted Stewart. "At least it'll be very frantic and hectic, played at a high tempo, particularly compared to Motherwell in midweek where it was a flat match on a cold, wet, windy, miserable night," he claimed. "Sometimes it's difficult to get anything done in those conditions but when the derby comes around it's a completely different kettle of fish.
"The fact that this is a cup tie could up the ante even more, especially since we last played them only last weekend. That's added some extra spice to it.
"I enjoy these occasions: I think that anyone does. There are other games where there isn't any atmosphere and that can be uninspiring but derbies just aren't like that."
The full article contains 1321 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
