‘Does my head in’ – Derek McInnes lifts lid on early Hearts frustrations as goalkeeper situation arises.
McInnes spared Craig Gordon and Zander Clark from the season opener.
It was, to paraphrase an old cliché, the type of headache every manager desired. A scenario in which two international-caliber goalkeepers compete for a spot on the team. Except that Derek McInnes is not experiencing a headache at the moment. Many people assumed that the Hearts boss would be tossing and turning in his sleep as he grappled with the predicament.
Or perhaps it was something he was thinking about as he travelled the hour-long distance from his house in Renfrewshire to Edinburgh, where he is currently overseeing the start of pre-season training at his new club.
“I was itching to get started,” he explained. “But you have to give over to sports science, which, to be honest, confuses me! Because we can’t wait to get started.” Having been appointed the day after the league season ended, there has been an unusual pause before getting started.
“I felt like I’d scored a goal and was waiting on VAR to give me permission to celebrate,” he told me. So, putting aside the pesky sports scientists, it’s all systems go? It appears that the answer is both yes and no. There are some significant absences from training, including striker Lawrence Shankland. McInnes has given the out-of-contract skipper until this weekend, when Hearts travel off for some sunny training camp in Spain, to accept the deal put on the table by the club.
It’s unclear whether he’s on the plane. Gordon will definitely not be attending the party on this trip. The 42-year-old is struggling to be fit for his own testimonial against former club Sunderland on July 26 at Tynecastle.
He is definitely out of Hearts’ League Cup campaign, which begins against Neil Lennon’s Dunfermline two weeks from Saturday. McInnes stated that Gordon has a nerve problem between his neck and forearm. “They have identified what the problem is,” she said. “It’s just been a slow burn.” It’s frustrating, but it’s something we’ve got to deal with.”
It’s unclear what this signifies for Gordon’s future. McInnes probably approved a one-year contract extension for the veteran ‘keeper, who is desperate to preserve his place as Scotland’s custodian ahead of the start of World Cup qualifying in September.
After Clark signed a new two-year contract in January, Hearts were expected to be back where they were this time last year, with two international-class No.1s vying for the same jersey. Ryan Fulton, the former Under-21 Scotland custodian, is also in this impressive mix, and at 29, he may feel he is due an opportunity.
Interestingly, all three were injured at the end of last season. “If Hearts had reached the Scottish Cup final, we wouldn’t have had a goalie fit!” remarked McInnes. It’s reasonable to wonder whether he would have been sitting where he was on Tuesday as he met with reporters at Hearts’ training centre at Oriam if they had reached the cup final.
“At the minute, aye,” McInnes responded, referring to Gordon’s current absence. “In the past, when I have been putting squads together, I have needed to sign two goalkeepers and normally the pitch to them is, ‘Listen, if you are first in through the door then you have the opportunity’.
He said that it had happened to Will Dennis, who had signed for Kilmarnock a week before Kieran O’Hara and thus “got the jersey”. The same was true for Joe Lewis and Neil Alexander at Aberdeen. “I signed them more or less on the same day but Joe got in just ahead of Neil and stayed in the team,” he told me.
Read more on sportupdates.co.uk
Leave a Reply