CSABA LASZLO has already won over the majority of the Hearts support with his tough talking off the pitch – now he's determined to make sure his team's displays on it are just as impressive.
The Hungarian will take charge of his first match as Hearts boss on Scottish soil on Sunday when English Premier League new boys Hull City provide the opposition at Tynecastle. A three-game tour of Germany preceded this weekend's clash and while the
Jambos may have lost two of those fixtures and failed to hit top form, there remains a cautious optimism among fans that Laszlo is the man to get the club back on track.
Since being installed as manager there has been a refreshing honesty about the former Ferencvaros coach who has not been afraid to ruffle feathers.
His assertions that the squad have not been fit enough in the past, that the players need to develop more of a fighting spirit and that his team needs more of a cutting edge have gone down well with supporters looking for a dramatic improvement on last season's disappointing eighth place in the SPL.
And now Laszlo is hoping to build on those initial good impressions by putting on a show when the majority of fans will get their first glimpse of him and his team on Sunday.
"Hull City is a very important game for everybody because this is the last game before the season and the team must show the fans we are improving," said the former Uganda coach.
"We must bring the fans back to the stadium – we need them. We need their support and the way to do that is to play well and win. This is only a friendly but we will try to play good football.
"We need to show supporters and show the city that the fighting spirit is back at the club. I would like to have a very noisy stadium and to bring that back we must show on the pitch. I want the players and the fans to come together because I know the last season was very bad in terms of the league position.
"This is my first chance to show the fans how I want things to be done and I want the fans to go into the new season with their heads up. I want the supporters to be proud of Heart of Midlothian.
"How we play in our next game could decide how many fans come back for the first real game of the season so it is important we do well."
Laszlo became a firm favourite among Ferencvaros' supporters during his time at the club as he took them into the UEFA Cup group stages, where they played, and defeated, Hearts at Murrayfield. And he revealed he would love to build the same kind of bond between himself and the Gorgie faithful – starting this weekend.
"Ferencvaros is a club like Hearts with a lot of supporters – a family," he said. "I went there and they had been successful but after the preparation we lost all the friendly games. But then I think that the first five games in the league we won and we saw the players playing and enjoying their work. The fans' relationship with me got better.
"It had been about 15 years before the coach from Ferencvaros had his name sung. Yet after the fifth of sixth game in the league they sung my name 'Csaba Laszlo'. This was a nice feeling. I would very much like the same thing at Hearts.
"For me the Hearts fans are the most important thing about the club and we have a responsibility to do well for them. I know how the fans suffer if the team loses and I don't want them to suffer."
Hull travel north ahead of a massive season in which they will try to defy the critics by retaining their place in the star-studded English Premier League.
The Tigers were the Championship's unlikely promotion winners when a stunning Dean Windass strike in the play-off final gave them victory over Bristol City. Manager Phil Brown has added the flair of Brazilian star and former Man City striker Geovanni to his squad and the industry of former Middlesbrough midfielder George Boateng.
The Jambos have already faced Kaiserslautern in their pre-season programme but Laszlo is in no doubt that their English opponents will be their toughest test yet.
"In every pre-season I think it's important that your last game is a big test and Hull City will definitely be a test for us," he said.
"They are a club which won promotion and to be playing in the Premier League they must be a very good team. This is exactly the sort of match we want before the season.
"This game gives the players the chance to take confidence before the season and we'd like to win the match.
"We want to use the game to make sure that we are ready for when the competitive matches kick-off.
"In the game this weekend I want to see discipline from my players. I think we have made very good steps so far but it is important that we keep making steps."
By the time kick-off comes round on Sunday the new season – the Jambos begin the campaign with a home tie against Motherwell – will be just six days away.
To date Laszlo has experimented with formations and personnel but he revealed that the team that lines-up against Hull will be close to the side he will field when Mark McGhee brings his Steelmen to Edinburgh. "We don't have much time for experimenting now so I know the team," he said.
"I'd like to put what I think is the best team out on the field.
"I will make changes during the game to give a lot of players a chance because the season is very long but I will begin with a strong team. During the season we will need a lot of players, not just 11, so everyone will need to play a part so everybody has to be ready.
"But I know in my own mind my strongest team now."
The full article contains 1045 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
