How 'front foot' Hibs can knock Hearts off stride in semi-final - Marink Reedijk's keys to Hampden victory
Dutch coach raised on Ajax v Feyenoord preaches discipline on derby day
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Just good enough. And that’s something you can work with, right, Hibs fans?
Outsiders in the eyes of odds makers, punters and pundits alike, Marink Reedijk’s men have no option but to embrace their underdog status in tomorrow’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final. Enjoy the easing of expectations, while laying the groundwork for an upset.
Making life uncomfortable for favourites
Raised in the rivalry of Ajax v Feyenoord, his apprenticeship served in less notorious – but equally heated – derbies across Dutch and Belgian football, Reedijk understands the unofficial and unwritten rules surrounding all such fixtures. Discipline, he stresses, will be key.
But he’s not so blinded by the passion as to ignore the contest at the heart of all the sound and fury. In pure footballing terms, there is no reason why his Hibs – pressing from the front and giving their opponents no room to draw breath - cannot make life uncomfortable, possibly even unendurable, for a Hearts side who have exchanged a little of their dogged toughness for a more expansive approach under Wouter Vrancken.
“It's so important in these matches to focus on what we can control,” said Reedijk. “And one of the things is that you should always play with your heart, but also with a good balance with your head. That's where these games are often decided.
“If the things we need to do are already in place or more ingrained, that makes it easier. Because you can always fall back on these elements - and you don't lose yourself too much.
“I always believe in football, you play three, four really good matches where everything is correct, maximum. And you have always bits in the match where you think this needed to be better, that needed to be better.
“But what gives you the stability is your work against the ball, eventually. So if things don't go well on the ball, then you can always fall back on against the ball.
“And as long as that's clear, you can get back into the game. It can bring you the stability you need in order to get back into a game or control a game even more.
“I think we are front foot defending. I think over time against Celtic, but also against St Mirren, we recovered the ball a few times up high.
“On the ball, we have clear patterns. You see certain things coming back. The behaviour and intensity, the goal against St Mirren we scored is such an example of that, that there is a certain intensity and togetherness in the team, but also from the fans.
“You always need to take an opponent into account, but an opponent you have no control over. The only thing you have control over is what we do, so they come into the spaces we want them to come, and into the decisions we want them to make.”
Improvement in crucial area may prove decisive
Hibs have shown steady improvement without the ball in their four games under Reedijk, with the timing and efficiency of their press paying minor dividends. The rest, the really tricky stuff that involves putting the ball in the net, is still a work in progress,
Away from the technical and tactical elements of any game, of course, there is the emotion of derby day, with a place in a cup final at stake, to take into account. Reedijk is ready to embrace the experience.
Asked about his first footballing rivalry, the 35-year-old Dutchman said: “I was going to the matches between Ajax and Feyenoor. The first time I went there, it was like a big spectacle to me, where you saw a lot of people coming in very emotional, very much already before the game, waiting for the fans of the opponent coming out of the train, these kind of elements.
“What I just hope is that everything which is done between the fans is in a respectful manner and in an appropriate way. You want to win, but in an appropriate way.
“And that's important to me as well. Because in some of those matches, I saw the other side and this is something I dislike.
“As a coach in Holland, it was Vitesse-NEC, which is also an intense derby. And then as a head coach in Belgium, it was Beveren against Lommel, which is also an intense derby.
“It's the same as here. The first day in, they tell you the date when it's being played. And this is the only day which counts and which is important.
“That's something I've been involved in. It's an electric, special match. It makes me smile already. It's something you look forward to because anything can happen, anything will happen. These matches you can prepare, and sometimes you're like. ‘Whoa, what's happening here?’”
Hibs will have a decent enough support backing them at Hampden tomorrow, although there is still more than a hint of hesitancy in the air. Fans need something tangible – a big, beautiful, barnstorming win, maybe – to convince them that Reedijk is the real deal.
The manager obviously hopes to deliver on his promises for fans who deserve better, pointing out: “How they supported us in St. Mirren was amazing, was great. How they applauded the team after Celtic was fantastic.
“Because it is not for everybody the easiest of times, I can understand. However, if they see the improvements and see the things we do and see that the team wants to work and wants to beat the opponent and wants to win the match and put everything on the pitch, then again, keep the eye on the prize. Eventually it will come.
“We need everyone to be in the same boat and everybody to go in the same direction. What I saw over the last two matches, keep on doing that. Help the team, help us together - and they do fantastically in order to make sure that we will get these results together.”