Steven Naismith: Hearts mindset and Craig Halkett aim

The Hearts head coach spoke in depth about VAR, provided an injury update on Craig Halkett, looked ahead to the rest of the season and the Monday night slot for the Scottish Cup tie with Greenock Morton.

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Is it fair to say that you’re supportive of VAR?

Ultimately, is it good for the game or is not? I think it's good and that's from my position as somebody who is associated with a team where the decisions impact us first-hand. I think we've been one of the teams that have been hit by the issues if you like, more than most in the league. But as the stats say, we are getting more decisions right than we did before. If we never won a cup on the back of a bad decision that VAR could have helped, that's not good for me. It impacts the value and entertainment for fans, 100 per cent, but for me, we need to get better decisions. The bad decisions haven't been VAR, it's the decision-making and the consistency level of that. And when something is new, that's always going to happen. I think we need to look at that at times because some of the decisions have been really poor - or the outcome of the decisions have been really poor. So I think it's more about that but I think we also have to give it time, give it time to get better, how we maybe use it and that there might be a better set-up in some way. There's also been a lot of people's individual agendas suiting to throw mud at the system and the process when every club knows what the process is. 'Oh why is this not happening and why is the guy not saying into the earpiece'. All those comments are just fuelled by individual agenda. It's not fuelled by facts or an understanding of what the process is for every decision. It takes a bit longer at times, yes, but until it's slick and we've got the experience, it's going to take time.

It's still subjective though, isn’t it? Three of the four decisions should have gone your way. Do you accept that Baningime should have been sent off against Aberdeen?

If I'm honest I've not really looked back at it but I remember at the time I was a bit like 'offfttt'. I never thought too much but if he's sent off, I probably look back at it and go, following the rules ... it's like the handball one. Is it handball or not? Yes, it's subjective but at this moment in time, even if it's a yard away and your hand is out, they are giving it as a penalty. So it's a penalty. There are going to be subjective decisions in football because what you think is a foul and I don't is what it is.

You can have an independent panel but it still comes down to what somebody thinks?

Whether VAR is there or not, that’s still wrapped up in the referee’s decision-making. They need to have a level that they are all in that. Some of the decisions are at the extremes of the spectrum when they shouldn’t be. There is going to be that subjectivity and everyone needs to accept that. But it’s when one decision is wrong and that one is not, and the outcome is totally different – that’s the part that needs to be more consistent and better.

How long is a sensible timeframe for Scottish football to get VAR right?

I don’t think you can put a date on it. I think we need to see progression all the time. If you look at the English league, who had it before us and who spend more money on their referees and their governing body, and they are still getting issues. But I think they will say they are in a better place now than they were at the start. As long as we are seeing improvement. At the start of the season, they were looking at three decisions and now it is up to 13. That’s going the wrong way so that needs to be addressed. But if we are slowly getting it quicker and getting fewer bad decisions, then that’s progression. That’s helping the game.

Craig Halkett has had his scan, is it good news?

Yeah. We don’t know because he is still going through the process but he has had a scan and it looks like the detail of that is positive. But I think the whole thing around Halks’ injury is still wrapped around his main injury that he was out with. Players come back and people see them on the pitch and go, ‘they’re back, they’re 100 per cent’. That’s not how it works. If your body hasn’t done something for nine months and then you’re asked to get back to elite level, there’s going to be dips within that recovery. This season is about getting him back out onto the pitch and getting as many minutes as he can and having an impact on the team – which he already has. He will have to come out the team at some point. Whether it be for performance level, niggly injuries, how intense the schedule is. As long as he gets to pre-season and he has had a block out on the pitch and in training, that’s been a successful return.

Is that a mental thing for him as well? If he feels he’s picked up a knock then some panic could set in?

Players have that the whole way through their recovery. When they are going from when they are on crutches or in a boot and coming out of it, they have feelings within the injury and go, ‘is this normal? Is it not?’. Especially when it’s the first time with an injury. That’s natural. But then you have that period when you have been on the pitch for a good while and you go, ‘I never actually felt whatever it may be for a longer time’. It’s part and parcel of being out for a while.

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How’s the rest of the squad looking?

Halks drops out. Kyosuke drops out. He got a bang on the head during the week and is following concussion protocol which is six/seven days, so we’ll wait and see with that one and he won’t be in the squad. Other than that, I think everyone is fit and competition is still there, which is healthy.

You have a commanding lead in third, how do you maintain that and maintain the intensity?

It’s about knowing it’s the next game. As I’ve said continuously, if we win, inevitably it is going to create a gap below us and, if we keep winning, the gap above you starts to get smaller. But it’s only the next game, the next game. That’s the mindset we have had all along. I think there has been a period where there has been praise for the squad and what they have done and people’s opinions changing. We can be happy with that, go yes, take that achievement and then let it die off. And people forget about it. I was involved in a good run as a Hearts player at the start of one season and no one really remembers it now because it was stumped and we ended up fading away. We need to continue doing what we are doing and get to the end of the season and have a season that people remember.

The cup tie with Morton has been confirmed for a Monday night, do you think that’s a shame for fans who maybe can’t go now?

I think the fans will still turn up as we have a good following. Fans who don’t want to miss a game. Ultimately, it’s the worst slot you can get in terms of when the game is. But with the structures and the TV and that, you have to accept what you get. For us, we know it will be a tough game and we’ll all need to be on our game to give ourselves the best chance.