How Hearts star will evolve and why team-mates think he’s a ‘nutter’.

On Saturday, the Tynecastle Park crowd yelled “SHOOT” as soon as they saw the opposition goal. It continued from the end of last season.

Beni Baningime strode forward, the ball at his feet. Heart of Midlothian fans have adopted an end-of-season mindset as the midfielder is urged to shoot. A beaming smile spread across the 26-year-old’s face as he slid the ball to a teammate on his right.

On Saturday, against Dunfermline, he chose to find a teammate rather than respond to crowd encouragement. New season, same Baningime? Not quite. Hearts fans may be able to expect Beni Baningime 1.5, if not 2.0.

During pre-season training in Spain, he was encouraged to be more direct, whether through his play or simply by shooting when the opportunity presented itself.

In a friendly against St Mirren, he scored after his shot was deflected into the net. Someone on the sideline referred to him as ‘Beni Bellingham’. Given the opportunity, he will most likely take more shots this season than he did last season (one more than the previous season). “Yeah, I’m trying to, and it’s one of the things that the manager has spoken to me [about],” said the worker.

“It’s about improving yourself and attempting to achieve a goal, a few goals, or whatever, while also working on your shooting and other areas where you may be lacking. “I know what my strengths are, and obviously I have weaknesses, so I’ll try to work on those and hopefully score a few goals this season.

“As a midfielder, I believe I excel at winning back the ball in tight spaces. If you can incorporate that into your game, you can become a more complete midfielder, which is what I’m working on and hoping to achieve.”

Last season at Hearts, Baningime had the shortest average pass length of any midfielder or defender, and only Craig Halkett made more sideways passes.

He has mastered maintaining possession and being someone his teammates can rely on with the ball, regardless of the situation. Then there’s his defensive ability, which makes him an even better midfielder.

Derek McInnes expects more from him in the future, including a more direct approach. The player demonstrated the ability to drive with the ball. “I think he wants me to be me, but he also wants me to be more aggressive, passing more forward, long passing,” Baningime told me.

“He doesn’t want me to stay comfortable with what I’m naturally good at and to push on to become the better version of me and I think he’s requiring that of everyone who’s in the squad.”

Baningime was open about his feelings about Kilmarnock and Derek McInnes at the end of last season, when it appeared that he would become the new head coach.

His perception of the new Hearts manager was altered by information gleaned from teammates. Fast forward to the present day, and when asked what he was like to work with, Baningime appeared to be about to lavish praise.

But he stopped himself, started laughing and explained he was wary of another possible fine that would come his way with his comments.

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