Kyle Revels In Hearts Team Spirit

[Moriarty]

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/11/01/02/SOCCER_Hearts_Nightlead.html&TEAMHD=soccer

 

Kevin Kyle believes the secret to Hearts' phenomenal run is the collective spirit Jim Jefferies has fostered at Tynecastle.

 

Hearts defeated Hibernian 1-0 on Saturday with Kyle heading an 86th-minute winner to keep them in touch with Rangers and Celtic at the top of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.

 

Jefferies took charge of Hearts for a second spell in January 2010 and almost a year on has been rewarded with a run of 10 wins in 12 games and 25 points out of a possible 27 since the 3-0 loss at home to Kilmarnock.

 

Kyle, who followed Jefferies to Hearts from Kilmarnock in the summer and has now netted 10 times this season, said: "I think last year was pretty 'doom and gloom' and it's just nice now that when we win we're all together - everybody's getting on with each other.

 

"When I first came here we'd get to training at nine o'clock in the morning and there would be 12 foreigners in one circle and 12 British people in the other circle - I thought 'there's a bit of a divide here'.

 

"Slowly now we've mixed. We're getting there. It's a good atmosphere and the huddle at the end of the game shows we're all in this together. It's a good feeling."

 

Kyle's winner came moments after Gary Glen had missed a simple tap-in from a cross by fellow substitute Arvydas Novikovas.

 

Novikovas was again the provider as Kyle's header beat Hibs goalkeeper Mark Brown at his near post to delight three quarters of Tynecastle.

 

Kyle praised Jefferies for replacing David Templeton, who has enjoyed a fine run of late but looked short of his best against Hibs, with Novikovas 11 minutes from time.

 

"We've just got that wee bit about us just now - we keep going right to the death," said Kyle.

 

"The substitution was badly needed because we were running out of ideas. It came, we took the three points and onwards and upwards."

 

The question over whether Hearts can maintain their run is a persistent one and Kyle hopes they can.

 

"We're just happy winning and getting our win bonus," he said.

 

"It's just nice to keep this run going. It's nice for us to win the derby, keep the fans happy.

 

"We're not saying we're going to challenge anybody, but if we keep going you never know what's going to happen."

 

Hearts have a break from league action next weekend with the Scottish Cup fourth-round clash with St Johnstone.

 

But Jefferies is eager for the momentum to be maintained.

 

He said: "We want to win every game now. It's at home. St Johnstone are a Premier League club, we know what we're going into.

 

"We have to make sure we're up for every game. If we're up for every game, we're a difficult side to play against and a difficult side to beat."

 

Hibs also hope the cup can provide solace and meet Ayr United at Easter Road next Saturday.

 

Captain Ian Murray, who was fortunate only to be booked for an aerial challenge on Ian Black after eight minutes yesterday, said: "We need to start getting results now.

 

"We've got a Scottish Cup tie coming up which will hopefully give us a lot of confidence. Equally it could be a banana skin for us as well.

 

"It's a chance to get a bit of a life into us. You see some teams having a terrible time of it in the league but they go on a great run in the cup.

 

"We're looking for a good performance first and foremost and getting a good result."

 

Hibs, though, remain in a precarious league position, with Colin Calderwood having lost seven of his 11 games in charge.

 

Murray added: "At the moment we're a little bit down, we just need to get on with it and try and pick up points."

 

The bolded part is the most interesting for me.

[Gigolo-Aunt]

It just shows you what a shambles the club was in when Csaba left the building.