Soccer
Wouter Vrancken enjoys his first Hearts win as Alexandros Kyziridis nears exit
Wouter Vrancken was delighted to see his Hearts attack catch fire in an emphatic 4-0 victory over Dundee United on the day it emerged Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis is set to move to Turkey.
After four consecutive defeats – three in Europe – Vrancken finally got to savour his first win since leaving Sint-Truiden to replace Derek McInnes in the Tynecastle hotseat.
Summer signings Tom Renaud, Calvin Miller, who notched a penalty, and Josh McPake all scored while last season’s talisman Claudio Braga broke his duck for the campaign.
Vrancken was thrilled to see four different scorers as Kyziridis, one of Hearts’ stars of last season, prepares to finalise a £1.7million move to a Turkish club.
“We accepted a bid for Alex,” revealed Vrancken. “I think it’s a good deal for him, for sure, but also for the club, when he comes in for nothing and goes with a good bid.
“But that showed today that they are ready to fill up this gap.”
Vrancken, who had to field winger Miller at left-back amid a defensive injury crisis, said of his team’s first win: “I think we played some good football.
“We showed some team spirit, team mentality. I’m just really happy for the players because they worked hard already and they needed some good results to create this extra kind of confidence.
“Against Benfica on Thursday in the second half, we played good football and in Sturm Graz at times also but good football means nothing without results.
“You need some results with good football. I’m really grateful and thankful for this game to give them this extra good feeling.
“You saw also during the game the confidence growing, the nervousness on the ball was a little bit gone.”
United boss Jim Goodwin revealed afterwards that he tried to sign French midfielder Renaud, who opened the scoring with a stunning 30-yard strike.
“There’s no getting away from the fact that the scoreline is an embarrassing one, but at the same time I don’t think it’s a fair reflection on the overall performance,” he said.
“I think there was very little between the two teams in the opening 45 minutes. It’s a wonder goal from Tom Renaud, that can happen during the season.
“He’s a player we know well. I spoke to him in the summer, we tried to bring him to Dundee United, so we knew the ability he has got from that type of situation.
“Then there’s a little bit of naivety then in the three goals that come after it.
“I think the difference between the two teams today was ultimately in the final third.
“We’ve had a similar amount of goal attempts, but Hearts have managed to hit the target on seven occasions whereas we’ve not worked the Hearts goalkeeper once, and that’s the bit that we need to be better at.”
