Steven Naismith met the media to discuss the latest goings-on ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Paisley. Aaron Fraser reports from Oriam.
Image Credit: Malcolm MacKenzie
For the last week, Tony Bloom’s proposed £10,000,000 investment into Hearts has been the topic of conversation wherever you look. Forums, blogs, and newspapers alike have all been discussing the protracted implementation of Bloom’s Starlizard system, which uses a data-driven algorithm to identify future signings, that has worked wonders for both Brighton and Union Saint Gilloise.
Steven Naismith was quizzed on the matter, but would not comment on Bloom’s investment specifically, saying he had more important things to be focusing on just now. However, the Hearts manager did share his views on the use of data as a whole in modern football, which makes for some interesting reading.
“On data in general, I think it’s a thing that’s been happening in football for the last 10-15 years. It’s now at a point where it’s not just general output from players, it’s in every area of the clubs.”
“So I think personally it’s something that’s only going to get bigger in football. There’s areas of the game that it’s very early on in, but there’s other areas where it can be a massive benefit.”
“We use as much at the moment as we can and what we’ve got the resources for. But I think going forward in every area of every club it’s going to be a big part of it.”
Naismith did not talk about the proposed investment as he said that anything about it “will be said at the right time by the people at the club that should be having these conversations.” At the forefront of his mind is securing that elusive first win of the season. Hearts being bottom of the Premiership table was not part of the plan, and Naismith wants to rectify this situation promptly. He is confident in his team’s ability to pick up three points in Paisley.
“Definitely, when I’m saying we need to be better at this and that, we’ve not been good enough and that’s ultimately my mistake and my problem and I’m the one that’s at fault for that.”
“But as I’ve said continuously this season, we work tirelessly. We work tirelessly on the pitch, the players are really responsive to it, they’re trying.”
“I think we’ll get a break and the results will pick up. I think we can lean on parts of last season at the early stages of the season. I think some of our new players are getting more comfortable, which eases things for us as well.”
“I’ve got full confidence in the squad and I’ve got a real belief that we can get a result tomorrow.”
Critics have accused Hearts of not having an identity so far during 2024/25. Naismith was asked what he thought his team’s identity actually is, and how he can respond to these accusations.
“I think short term, in last season, our identity has been that we’ve won games. We’ve won games consistently. That got us a good run, it got us a good position in the league and fundamentally that needs to be the first thing that people identify to you. That you’re hard to beat and you win games, you find a way to win.”
“Beyond that, we’re probably a team that has more possession than the opposition. I don’t think our attacking play and style, I can accept that there has been a clear way of doing it. As I’ve just said before, that’s an area we need to improve on. There’s wee areas that I do think over time you will progress and you’ll see a consistency that will come.”
“We’ve not found that this season but ultimately we need to win games to get over that first hurdle and bring that confidence back that players play the best football.”
