James Penrice reveals why it doesn't look good as Hearts sit bottom of the league
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Seeing Hearts thump back to the bottom of the Premiership table is a jarring experience for James Penrice. He spent most of last season there with Livingston and moved to Edinburgh aiming to prosper after the West Lothian club dropped down to the Championship. It hasn’t happened so far. One consolation is that the defender’s displays in maroon already prove he is an astute and reliable full-back, something many supporters have noticed.
Being a good player and a worthwhile signing does not get you off the bottom of the league, however. Penrice is open and honest when asked about the situation following Wednesday’s 2-1 defeat by Kilmarnock at Tynecastle Park, which sent Hearts back to 12th position in Scotland’s top flight.
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Hide Ad“Let's be honest, it doesn't look good,” acknowledged the 25-year-old. “Everyone sees the league table, but we are so early in the season that it doesn't really matter. I think what matters is putting points on the board and going and climbing that table. For us, it's not been good enough, plain and simple. Wednesday night didn't look like the last week or so. I think that's why we've walked away with nothing.”
The previous three games offered many positives following the arrival of Neil Critchley as Hearts head coach. His team beat St Mirren 4-0 and Omonoia Nicosia 2-0 before drawing 1-1 with Hibs in the Edinburgh derby. They led Kilmarnock 1-0 at half-time through Alan Forrest’s goal and looked reasonably comfortable. Two goals in six second-half minutes exposed defensive frailties as doubt set in.
“From the position we went in at half-time, I thought we were really comfortable,” said Penrice. “And then to come out and lose two goals like that, it's not good enough. We know it. It's more frustration, being in that position and allowing a team to come back into the game. As soon as they get the second goal, they sat in. I think we should be used to that. We should be used to teams coming here and trying to sit in and trying to nick points. We weren't good enough after they scored the second goal. But even then, the two goals aren't good enough and we've only got ourselves to blame, really.
“Killie know what they're doing. They're a good team in this league and there are no easy games. But from the position we were in at half-time, we shouldn't be losing the game. It's plain and simple. The two goals are really, really bad from our point of view. It just comes down to we don't concede the goals and we don't lose the game.
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Hide Ad“There's obviously frustration. You've seen that. It would be easy to just then go gung-ho, but there was a long time left in the game. I think they scored quite quickly and the two goals were close together. I think it was then to calm down and just get back to what we were doing in the first half because I thought we were brilliant. I thought we knocked the ball about well. We maybe didn't have so many chances, but they were pinned in.
“They really had maybe the one for [Kyle] Vassell that went over the goalie and Kye [Rowles] clears. That was probably their only chance of the first half and I think we dominated the ball. We were brilliant, but I think we started the second half quite well. Then, as soon as that first goal goes in, I think it rocks us. It's just not good enough. I think we need to be a lot better.”
There are lessons to be learned and Penrice is honest enough to identify them. “I think that we need to be so much, much stronger. I think other teams will see what happened on Wednesday and they'll try to replicate what Killie did. I think Killie came with a plan: ‘Just sit in and we'll try and nick something.’ Ultimately, our response wasn’t good enough and that's the bottom line.”
Hearts are in the middle of a congested period of fixtures with seven games inside 23 days. Penrice is adamant that fatigue is not the reason they lost in midweek. “No, not really. We've got a big squad,” he said. “I think the manager says that everyone's got a position to play for and I think it's all about the individual to try and keep their jersey. There's a massive squad there and you can dip players in and out. I think you've seen that with last week, a couple of changes, stuff like that. On Sunday, a couple of changes. Ultimately, anyone that goes on the park should perform because it's not good enough.”
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Hide AdDespite the difficulties in his first season in Gorgie, Penrice only has good things to say about life at Hearts. He does not regret the choice made in the summer when several other teams also coveted his signature. “I've said it every time anyone has asked. I think that, although it's not been absolutely brilliant and we haven't won a lot of games, I'm absolutely buzzing to be here. It was a long time coming. It was January it was getting spoken about. We managed to get the pre-contract done, but I was absolutely buzzing to sign here. I still am, every day coming in. It's a massive honour to play for this club and I think it would be a lot better if we were a lot higher up the league and doing a lot better.”
An injury at Livingston last spring set him back and meant he had to be eased gradually into Hearts’ pre-season programme. “Yeah, that was tough mentally as well,” admitted the player. “Even just coming back, getting drip-fed back into training: training one session and not training the next. I never played any of the games in pre-season. I played at Fleetwood [in a friendly], I think, and that wasn't great. As I said, my family are buzzing. They've settled in here, they love it, they love all the other families and stuff like that. I'm buzzing to play for this club and I just really wish that we were doing a lot better.”