Gent boss makes prediction over Wouter Vrancken at Hearts as he admits Hibs put Belgians through the wringer
Gent were in Edinburgh on Thursday night as they faced off against Hibs - but weighed in on Hearts post-match.
Gent boss Rik De Mil expects Wouter Vrancken to thrive at Hearts - as he admits Hibs pushed his Conference League-bound team to their very limit.
The Belgian is well aware of the new Tynecastle head coach’s work in his homeland before moving to Gorgie earlier this summer. Both sides will be in the Conference League proper this term after qualifying for the league phase, Hearts downing Rapid Vienna on penalty kicks, while Gent emerged 3-2 winners at Easter Road.
Hibs were leading 2-1 in the tie heading into the second half of the second leg in Leith’s closing stages on Thursday night but two late Gent goals sealed their progression. De Mil knows Hearts coach Tim Smolders well from previous work together in Belgium and he expects head coach Vrancken to keep Hearts on an upward trajectory after last term’s second place Premiership finish.
How will Wouter Vrancken do at Hearts?
He said: “I have good contact with Wouter and his assistant coach Tim Smolders was there on Thursday and we worked together in Brugge. So it would be really nice to see each other again. We are really happy to get to this stage - for the club, the players and supporters it’s really important for us. Wouter will do really good, he is a really good coach. He is somebody that playing good football gets you results and that is something I believe also.
“He will need some time to get his football principles in the team but you can see he is starting to change it bit by bit. It was a difficult start and he did not have much time to prepare. He has also had two difficult games and opponents to start with but gradually things are changing. You could say he had some luck on Thursday but luck is not always what it is. He gets to know the group and he gets to change things and I really believe he will do very well with Hearts.”
Hibs held Gent to a goalless draw in Belgium during leg one of their play-off tie and De Mil admits the hosts of the rematch had his team on the ropes. Complaints couldn’t have been had if elimination was brought upon them but overall he feels Gent deserved to progress.
Gent on win vs Hibs
He added: “I think Hibs are are a difficult team to play against. It’s a tough place to come over here. I think they were two equal games. For me, in terms of football-wise, we deserve it. On the other hand, I think we really suffered second half.
“I think it’s the first game we played this season where we suffered so much in the second half. That is really because of the belief and quality this team showed against us. If we lost here, I don’t think we’d have a lot to say also, even after the first half. The second half was for them.”