Edinburgh passion impresses Laszlo

01 January 2010 15:31
Hearts boss Laszlo, who coached in Germany, Hungary and Uganda before coming to Edinburgh a year and a half ago, has been taken aback about the passion for the game that exists in his adopted country.[LNB]And he revealed that has made him feel right at home.[LNB]"The love for football is more highly ranked than in other countries," he said.[LNB]"Elsewhere, you have more sports and the interest is not just in football, it is also in other sports and a lot of people don't have any interest in football.[LNB]"But here in Scotland, you have football, you have the pubs, the church and after that comes the family. First is football."[LNB]Of his own pecking order, Laszlo said: "It is football, football and family!"[LNB]He added: "In Scotland, what I love is that everybody speaks just about football.[LNB]"The people in the town speak just about the derby and about football. The interest is not just in winning, it is the lifestyle. This is the big difference."[LNB]Laszlo is preparing for his seventh meeting with Hibernian and, although he has beaten them in cup competition, he has yet to get the better of them in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.[LNB]His chances of doing so looked slim two weeks ago, with Hibs flying high in third place and Hearts languishing at the wrong end of the table.[LNB]But Laszlo's men last night completed a hat-trick of SPL victories by seeing off Motherwell, while their arch-rivals were thrashed 4-1 by Rangers on Sunday.[LNB]Laszlo revealed his players have taken heart from the way Hibs' previously impressive defence was cut open at the weekend.[LNB]"Just the inspiration that even at Easter Road you can score four goals gives for us the possibility to see that we can," he said.[LNB]"If we score just one and don't lose any, I am happy."[LNB]Nevertheless, Laszlo has been impressed by the way John Hughes has transformed the fortunes of Hibs since moving from Falkirk in the summer.[LNB]He said: "He had a not so good season with Falkirk but now with Hibs it is a new team, new people around you, new players, different players and also the players who came into the club brought a lot of new and fresh air and also quality.[LNB]"And if you have the quality, definitely you have also success."[LNB]One of those quality players is top scorer Anthony Stokes, who Hearts tried to sign last summer.[LNB]Laszlo revealed he was "very close" to landing the Republic of Ireland striker as he kept his fingers crossed about acquiring another forward this month.[LNB]The Hearts boss has been trying to bring Izale McLeod and Steven MacLean to Tynecastle on loan this week.[LNB]Deals for the pair hang in the balance, with Vladmir Romanov quoted as saying he had yet to be convinced by them.[LNB]There have been reports McLeod is already off the agenda over concerns about a long-standing knee problem, with MacLean said to be still very much a target.[LNB]But whether Laszlo is able to convince Romanov to sign the Plymouth Argyle striker in time for him to be registered for Sunday's game remains to be seen.[LNB][LNB] Hibernian v Hearts. Click here to bet.  

Source: Team_Talk