The two Hearts fixes that can be implemented to halt form slide as pundit hopes one factor isn't 'squandered'

 Hearts Coaches Frankie McAvoy and Gordon Forrest and Head Coach Steven Naismith Hearts Coaches Frankie McAvoy and Gordon Forrest and Head Coach Steven Naismith
Hearts Coaches Frankie McAvoy and Gordon Forrest and Head Coach Steven Naismith | SNS Group
The former Hearts player has identified two ways the club can get out of their predicament.

Michael Stewart reckons a settled system and hard work are key components in getting Hearts back in the winning groove.

Steven Naismith’s side are in the midst of a losing streak and that has brought increased scrutinty upon his side. An impressive Premiership campaign last season saw a third finish rewarded with European football, which they will have in the revamped league phase in the Europa Conference League.

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Former Hearts midfielder Stewart has been observing his ex-club’s games, noticing head coach Naismith has changed formations at times. He thinks the players need to get settled in a consistent structure with confidence, in his opinion, low and a desire to work hard on phases of play another thing that could help arrest the slide.

It doesn’t get much easier in the Premiership with Celtic away from home their next chance of clinching a first competitive win of the season. Stewart hopes the undoubted quality within Hearts ranks isn’t lost. He told Premier Sports: “What can change? The first thing is, they need to settle on a structure and a system they are going to play with.

“They need to stick with it for a bit as this constant flipping between back five, back four, back three, no. Especially at the moment when confidence is shot, they need to get back to basics. That is what they tried to do against Dundee United. They need to work their backsides off in terms of running through phases of play.

“Getting players confident in where they are on the park, what options they have got. Then they have to hope something falls their way and they can get a victory. All of this is on the head of the coaching team and I said this before the first game against Rangers, it’s an imbalanced squad.

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“As much as there is quality there, if they don’t rectify the imbalance, they are going to squander the quality they have got and that is unfortunately looking like how it is panning out at the moment.”

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