Tune in to the full episode of this week's Fitbaw Talk - your nan's favourite Scottish football podcast.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:03 - Speaking about pressure,
00:03 I think that takes us nicely on to Hearts against Aberdeen.
00:06 This is a really interesting fixture for me
00:09 because I think whoever loses that game,
00:13 the pressure is gonna be ramped up on them
00:15 about whether it's Barry Robson
00:16 or whether it's Stephen Naismith.
00:18 'Cause Aberdeen's start to the season has been
00:22 way below what the Aberdeen fan base were expecting
00:26 given the investment in the squad so far
00:30 and given the success Barry Robson had last season.
00:33 Hearts, on the other hand,
00:34 things just, there's just something
00:36 that's maybe not quite clicking there.
00:38 I think you'd be better placed to answer that.
00:40 But what do you sort of think it is at Hearts at the moment?
00:43 I mean, is it gonna make any difference
00:45 now that Stephen Naismith,
00:47 we've sort of done away with this technical director,
00:49 Frankie McEvoy's the head coach.
00:51 Stephen Naismith is the head coach now,
00:53 but everyone within Hearts already knew
00:55 that was the case anyway, as far as I can see.
00:58 So is that gonna make any difference, just that clarity?
01:01 Or do you think there's something else there
01:03 with the players that's maybe just not quite clicking?
01:06 - Yeah, it does provide clarity.
01:09 And I think that's important.
01:11 Football players, football fans, football pundits,
01:15 everybody like clarity.
01:17 Everybody likes to know who's in charge,
01:19 what the situation is, et cetera.
01:21 So Hearts have got that now.
01:23 So there isn't that sort of,
01:24 you can't hide behind any excuses,
01:27 and not that they were doing that to begin with.
01:28 But there's a clear structure in place now,
01:32 and you know who the box stops with.
01:34 You're right to say that things
01:36 haven't been clicking there at all.
01:38 And the league table shows that.
01:40 Likewise, Aberdeen, both of them in a similar predicament.
01:42 So there's a lot riding on this game at the weekend.
01:46 Hearts-Aberdeen games are always good,
01:48 good fixtures anyway.
01:49 There's always a lot going on.
01:50 They're always intense and quite dramatic at times.
01:53 And I don't see this one being any different,
01:55 even though it's earlier in the season.
01:57 - It'll be interesting to see
01:58 how both teams approach the match.
01:59 I didn't get the chance to see Aberdeen-Hibs.
02:02 I saw Aberdeen's second leg against Haken
02:06 in the Europa qualifiers.
02:07 I did see Motherwell-Hearts.
02:10 Hearts, it was frantic.
02:13 And Stephen Nesmith, if you could tell
02:15 by his instructions on the touchline,
02:17 he wanted them to take more risks,
02:19 go for that through ball or that overlap,
02:22 or just be a bit more punchy, if you like.
02:25 Aberdeen, they're going with this back,
02:28 sort of Scotland set up, kind of, a back three.
02:31 I think the idea behind it is to make sure
02:34 that Duke and Miovsky can both play through the middle,
02:38 rather than Duke maybe being pushed out wide
02:40 where he's potentially less effective.
02:42 But the back three for Aberdeen,
02:45 it just, it doesn't seem to be working.
02:47 The defenders, I just,
02:49 they clearly haven't played together enough
02:52 and they're just not on the same wavelength.
02:54 And there's so much space just in between them.
02:58 A back three, I feel, it needs to be compact.
03:00 It needs to be tight, doesn't it?
03:03 'Cause if you leave space in between,
03:04 then that's where the ball's gonna go.
03:06 And I think that is something Hearts could exploit,
03:09 but rather than how they approached the Motherwell game,
03:12 where it was sort of fifth gear from kickoff,
03:16 they maybe just want to take their time
03:18 and try and break that, break it down a bit slower
03:21 and just, they don't need to take as many risks,
03:24 I don't think.
03:26 (upbeat music)
03:29 (upbeat music)
03:31 (upbeat music)