HEARTS head coach Ian Cathro is in no mind to change his approach to get back on track for a European spot.
The Jambos have won one of their last eight games and go into tonight’s game at St Johnstone two points behind their opponents in fifth place in the Ladbrokes Premiership.
Cathro knows the result is all that matters in Perth.
But he said: “There’s how you think you get those results, which is how you consider is the best way to win the game. The result is always the only thing that matters. What people have different views on is what’s the best way of getting that result.
“So what we consider is the best way for us to get results will be the way that we try to play.
“There’s nothing different in that – it’s not a case of you play some games to play well and play nice, and other games you play to win. That’s just the biggest lot of nonsense ever. We play every single game to go and win.
“The way that we choose to play the game is because of how we believe is the best way for us to win. They are not two separate things.
“If you’re on a winning run and everything’s good, OK now we can play differently, so we can play well and play nice and people can say nice things about us. That’s just nonsense, absolute nonsense.
“What we want to do is to win. We want to do it in a way that allows us to grow as a team and become more consistent and perform at a higher level and to progress.”
Hearts were in fourth spot when Cathro took over in December and the position should ensure a Europa League place if Hibernian do not retain the William Hill Scottish Cup.
“The opportunity for this club to be playing in Europe is a very important thing,” Cathro said. “The first step is for us to recover the position in the league which has probably been the minimum for this club historically.
“It was more or less the position the club was in after the first game I had arrived. It’s important we maintain that and we address that quickly. Where we set our objectives and targets, that can still be a little bit further down the line. It’s a very important game.”
St Johnstone will be without the suspended Richard Foster and Danny Swanson, who were sent off for clashing with each other at Hamilton. Cathro says he has seen similar incidents in his football career.
“In a closed-room environment, then I think everyone has,” Cathro said. “I would guess that it’s probably less regular now than what it was in years gone by but, as I keep getting reminded, I’m just 30 so maybe I’m not coming from the best position to comment on that.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel