Wouter Vrancken already bears the look of a bloke about to learn some harsh lessons in the rather peculiar environment of Scottish football.
One, of course, is that the SFA and their refereeing department, before we’ve even got properly started, are giving the impression they are on some kind of lunatic war footing with anyone who, justifiably, felt last season’s ripsnorting race for the title was tarnished somewhat by the eventual rows and recriminations over questionable officiating.
Hearts kick off their Premiership programme at Pittodrie tonight, for example, and Andrew Dallas has been parachuted in as the video assistant referee. Sure, he has to be involved in their games at some stage, but couldn’t the dust have been allowed to settle a little on last term before the Tynecastle club had to deal with him being foisted upon them again?
Dallas was the guy who called referee John Beaton to the monitor to award that controversial late penalty — the result of a supposed handball from Sam Nicholson — for Celtic at Motherwell in the penultimate round of fixtures last term.
It still splits opinion. Rightly or wrongly, it led to the game in this country being kicked from pillar to post. The fact Kelechi Iheanacho scored the resultant 99th-minute spot-kick meant Celtic would lift the title through any kind of victory in their last-day shootout with Hearts rather than having to win by a barrowload.
Sticking Dallas up there this evening just feels like the SFA making a point. Still, at least they haven’t put Steven McLean down as the referee — considering he was the bloke who really cost the Jam Tarts the league by refusing to give them a proper stonewall penalty at Fir Park in the previous round of fixtures.
Hearts boss Wouter Vrancken has endured a frustrating start to his Tynecastle reign
Maybe they felt that awarding McLean the Scottish Cup final just over a week later was example enough of standing their ground. They certainly seem to be going to town right now on anyone who might have anything mildly beastly to say about their crack squadron of whistlers and monitor-dwellers.
Derek McInnes copped a ban. Former Motherwell midfielder Elliot Watt got four games for calling that Celtic penalty ‘the worst VAR decision in history’. St Mirren boss Craig McLeish is next to be clobbered for a quip on TV relating to referee Sean Murdoch having played over 100 games for Dunfermline after he’d given the Pars at least one contentious award as they beat the Buddies in the Premier Sports Cup.
We’ve been here with the SFA in the past, though. Whether using disciplinary means or vague agreements at pow-wows and peace talks, attempts to quell public criticism of officials are always doomed to failure when the officials keep getting simple stuff wrong.
This might hold for a little while. Managers and players will bite their tongue for a bit. However, recent history tells you it won’t be long until another series of unfathomable calls comes, the levee breaks, anger spills over, the SFA refuse to self-reflect on a struggling set-up and Willie Collum’s VAR Review becomes essential viewing again.
Listening to some Hearts fans right now, though, you wonder whether their new head coach Vrancken will even be around when that time inevitably comes.
The guy has only had two competitive games against Sturm Graz in the Champions League qualifiers. He’s trying to implement a new formation and style of play.
He’s also taken over a squad robbed of Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin — not to mention defensive stalwart Craig Halkett, out long-term — and still trying to get over the psychological neutron bomb of seeing a historic title snatched from their grasp at Parkhead when it was just about to be dressed in maroon-and-white ribbons.
Yet, there are perfectly audible grumblings echoing up and down Dalry Road and anyone listening in to Vrancken’s immediate reaction to Tuesday night’s home loss to the Austrians will understand why.
Last season’s star men Lawrence Shankland and Cammy Devlin have both moved to Rangers
It is here, in these embryonic days of his reign, that the Belgian is going to learn some of his harshest lessons of all. Words matter here. They are examined to the nth degree. Snap judgments are made on people’s character over them and the way they generally comport themselves when communicating with supporters.
First impressions can have a massive say on how a coach, no matter his pedigree, is received and regarded and Vrancken’s assessment of that two-legged pounding from Sturm Graz really didn’t get him off on a good footing at all.
He took over a team that came within three minutes of a title. They’ve now suffered a six-goal pasting over two games from a side from Austria, hardly a superpower, and he’s giving the impression there’s nothing to be too worried about.
Sure, players have moved on and others might be for the off soon too, but a whole new team of signings has been brought in with several carrying hefty transfer fees. Few started and Calvin Miller was played out-of-position.
A lot of faith has been placed in investor Tony Bloom and Jamestown Analytics with this having been termed a 10-year project aimed at becoming champions. Hearts fans can be a demanding audience and they are not ready to go back to being also-rans any time soon.
Vrancken’s post-match interview during the week might have gone largely unnoticed at the likes of previous club Sint-Truiden, but that ain’t the way it rolls here.
When you’ve lost by six goals, no one wants to hear you discuss the positives of being in the game for the first hour before falling apart. Likewise, talking about how the players weren’t physically prepared to stay on it for more than 60 minutes raises serious alarm bells about planning, prep and those above him in the food chain.
Vrancken also claimed on radio post-match that Sturm Graz had six weeks to prepare while Hearts only had three. Perhaps more context is required in terms of what he meant, but a look back at the period preceding the tie throws up obvious questions.
Sturm Graz actually finished their domestic season after Hearts. The Tynecastle outfit lost the league at Celtic Park on May 16 with the Austrians concluding their fixtures the following day against Rapid Vienna.
Hearts returned to pre-season training on June 26. However, all reports from Austria state Sturm Graz got back on the grass only nine days earlier on June 17 — with coach Fabio Ingolitsch describing the squad at his disposal, thanks to players being absent, as ‘a motley crew’.
Sturm Graz’s win at Tynecastle was followed by some confusing assertions by Vrancken
Maybe Vrancken got his wires crossed a bit, but the 47-year-old had better hope his players can stand up to Aberdeen for 90 minutes tonight. Benfica are next up in Europa League qualifying and a battering there after another underwhelming display at Pittodrie is only going to increase the noise already surrounding him and the club in general.
Losing Shankland to Rangers for buttons because of a contract clause felt amateurish. Cammy Devlin leaving for Ibrox as a free agent hinted at a lack of forward planning.
Some fans maybe expected CEO Andrew McKinlay to be more vocal about last term’s refereeing calls or wider response to the pitch invasion at Parkhead on that final day, too, but he is the vice-president of the SFA, after all.
All of that pre-dates Vrancken, of course, but it doesn’t mean he won’t get caught in the crossfire if things don’t pick up on the pitch quickly.
Hearts have a foul record in Aberdeen, but Vrancken badly needs his players to stick at it, get something and give him breathing space. He also needs to make it clear he’s got a grip on things.
There’s no settling-in period here. No sugarcoating bad results and getting away with it.
It can be a febrile environment and that’s perhaps the most pressing reality he has to come to terms with as he embarks upon the difficult business of making sure Hearts’ achievements last season serve as a springboard rather than a millstone that drags him under.
