IT DOESN'T take too vivid an imagination to picture John Hughes handing out boiler suits to his players and asking them to paint like Picasso. The charismatic Falkirk manager wants his team to be inventive and forward-thinking without forgetting the
basic values of discipline and hard graft.
It took an early goal from their new old yin – Neil McCann – and a late strike from their old young yin – Scott Arfield – to secure the home team's first SPL victory of the season. In between, they were organised and resilient, which proved sufficient to overcome a Hearts team who waited until early in the second half to get going but looked the more likely winners after Michael Stewart's equaliser.
They may have been a shade fortunate to win such an evenly-contested match, but after accumulating more injuries than goals and points put together in their few games, perhaps Falkirk deserved a break.
For Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo, whose double substitution five minutes after half-time gave his team much more of a threat going forward, it was hard to take. For Hughes it was a reward for the effort his weakened team had put in over a number of weeks. Concentration, perseverance and a touch of good fortune – the crossbar kept out Christophe Berra's header in injury time – got them over the line at last.
"Since I've been associated with Falkirk, we've always been a working class, boiler suit sort of club," reflected Hughes. "We must make sure we don't forget those values, because that's when we're at our best."
Falkirk have players with the ability to play more fluently than this, but the signs are promising enough. McCann and Burton O'Brien combined effectively on the left-hand side of midfield in their first game together, and Steve Lovell, another new signing who is returning from injury, made a telling contribution by coming off the bench to set up the late winner.
The goal was scored from the sort of position at the edge of the penalty box normally occupied by Hearts' defensive shield Christos Karipidis. The Greek, however, had been substituted just two minutes before Arfield stepped onto Lovell's lay-off to guide the ball through Berra's legs into the bottom corner.
If injuries to key players have damaged Falkirk in the opening four league games, the return to fitness of Tam Scobbie, Michael Higdon, Lovell, O'Brien and McCann will raise expectations about their prospects of climbing the table.
"We wanted to go out and have a go. We always do that," said Hughes, who singled out McCann for particular praise. "I just felt that Hearts were possibly better than us at passing the ball and moving us about, and it took us time to come to terms with it."
McCann managed just 15 starts in an injury-ravaged year-and-a-half at Tynecastle before seeking a fresh start at Falkirk in the summer. Cruelly, he was struck down by a hamstring strain at the end of pre-season and was surprised to be given a place in the starting line-up after only returning to full training late last week.
The experienced former Hearts winger didn't take waste time making the most of it though. Just two and a half minutes had elapsed when a cross from the right broke into his path inside the box. With a neat touch and swing of the right boot his four-year wait for a goal – his previous strike was for Southampton in a League Cup tie at Northampton in September 2004 – was over, his explosion of joy unconstrained.
Higdon and Graham Barrett gave Falkirk a focal point in the first half which Hearts lacked at the other end of the pitch, where Jamie Mole, lone striker for the visitors, was an isolated figure feeding on scraps. Adrian Mrowiec, the Polish recruit from Kaunas making his debut, struggled on the right side of midfield against McCann and O'Brien.
Laszlo's decision to replace Mole and Saulius Mikoliunas with Christian Nade and Audrius Ksanavicius after 51 minutes was a positive one, and a signal of intent. The Hearts players responded, and after concerted pressure the equaliser arrived when Darren Barr's headed clearance from a Laryea Kingston free kick dropped to Stewart, whose first-time strike fizzed along the turf into the bottom corner.
"I must compliment my team," said Laszlo. "We lost three points, but we didn't lose our pride."
The full article contains 756 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
