Latest news with #ZanderClark
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'McInnes has brought the heart back to Hearts'
We asked for your views on Hearts 3-2 win over Dundee what you said:Murray: Exciting time to be a Hearts fan. Still lots of areas we can improve upon and lots of new signings still to play and to be fully bedded into the team but Derek McInnes has the team looking organised and hard working, as you'd hope and Sorry but Zander Clark isn't good enough for Hearts. He gave away two goals last season against Dundee and was dropped for Gordon. The difference this time is we have a manager who knows what he's doing. We need a keeper now not wasting time waiting for Craig getting Amazed at the negativity from some Hearts fans! That's 10 wins in a row going back into last season. We've beaten the New Firm back to back - both of whom were comfortably above us last year and in Europe this year! We're top of the league! Enjoy it!John: If Hearts plan to achieve what Tony Bloom and the fans desire they will need a top-class goalkeeper. They can't keep shipping easy Cautiously optimistic. McInnes needs to sort out the right back position before the window closes, Alan Forrest was badly exposed against United and against better teams, we'd have been punished more! New signings are bedding in well, Braga looks a find! Onwards and Obviously not happy about the lost goals, but this team looks as though it's got a different mentality from those of the past few seasons. Because of that alone, we can be A huge three points. Dundee United will be right up there this season, they look a proper side. Hearts have totally changed the narrative around us. We used to be a soft touch, roll over and have our bellies rubbed. McInnes has brought the heart back to Hearts. Win your battles, run yourself into the ground, you'll get your rewards. Superb. Gorgie rules.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Dundee United 2-3 Hearts: relief for Clark as head boy Findlay keeps Tynecastle side top of the table
If the Hearts squad manage to have a night out any time soon, Zander Clark might want to make sure he's the first man at the bar. While he's getting the drinks in, the goalkeeper should also order a double for Stuart Findlay after the big defender bailed him out in remarkable fashion at Tannadice. Hearts' turbo-charged start to the season was in danger of being derailed after Clark was at fault for two goals from Dundee United wide man Ivan Dolcek which cancelled out Lawrence Shankland's early spot-kick opener for the visitors. Step forward Findlay, who is quickly becoming a favourite of the Hearts support. After scoring in last Monday night's 2-0 win over Aberdeen, the Oxford United loanee produced two more outstanding headed goals — the second of them coming in the 94th minute — to earn a dramatic victory. It keeps Derek McInnes' side on top of the Premiership table and maintains the momentum sparked by ambitious Brighton owner Tony Bloom's financial investment in the club. If the finale was one to savour for those of a Gorgie persuasion, it was cruel on United who contributed to a tremendous contest on the back of their impressive 2-2 draw with Rapid Vienna in the Conference League qualifiers. On this evidence, they are capable of enjoying another successful domestic campaign. For Hearts and their jubilant fans, who knows where this season might lead? There is surely still plenty of improvement to come from the squad being assembled, while in the short term they are displaying a happy knack of always finding a way to win games. Shankland and Claudio Braga are quickly establishing what could be a highly profitable partnership up front and they combined intelligently on the left to force a corner which presented the visitors with their first opening of the afternoon. Harry Milne, who continues to impress at left wing-back, whipped over an inviting delivery and the unmarked Frankie Kent should have done better than head over from around eight yards. United's response was positive and they showed no early indications of feeling any adverse effects from their exertions in securing such a creditable result in Austria last Thursday night. Vicko Sevelj forced Clark into action for the first time when he found time and space to unleash a sweetly-struck right-foot shot. On an afternoon when Clark wouldn't cover himself in glory, he was alert to the danger on this occasion as he threw himself to his right to turn the ball wide. The tone was set for a hugely absorbing contest, with play sweeping from end to end. Hearts missed another glorious opportunity in the 14th minute when Alan Forrest picked out Braga with a perfect cross from the right, only for the forward to steer his close range header straight at Yevhen Kucherenko. McInnes' men made the breakthrough five minutes later as sustained pressure saw United's Moldovan defender Iurie Iovu clumsily pull down Findlay inside the six yard box. Referee David Dickinson had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Shankland coolly sent Kucherenko the wrong way from 12 yards. Just as Hearts appeared primed to take control of the contest, United delivered the perfect riposte in the 22nd minute. Kent conceded a free-kick just outside the penalty area when he got caught on the wrong side of Owen Stirton and hauled down the young United forward. Dolcek struck the set-piece sublimely with his left foot to bend it over the defensive wall. Clark, having got his left hand to the ball, should have done better than simply help it on its way into the net. If that was a source of huge frustration for McInnes, worse was to follow as United completed their first half turnaround with a second goal four minutes before the break. Panutche Camara's clever pass set Dolcek free on the left of the penalty area. His rising shot was completely misjudged by the goalkeeper who got his angles horribly wrong and fumbled the ball into the roof of the net. Hearts equalised in the 58th minute, Findlay rising to meet Milne's corner and steer home a picture-book header beyond Kucherenko. It looked as if Hearts would have to settle for a point but a flurry of stoppage-time pressure paid a rich dividend when Findlay stretched every sinew to meet Alexandros Kyziridis' corner and grab the winner with an angled near-post header. Dundee United (3-5-2): Kucherenko 6.5; Iovu 6, Esselink 6.5, Keresztes 6.5; Thomson 7.5, Sevelj 7, Camara 7.5 (Fotheringham 66), Sibbald 6.5, Dolcek 8; Stirton 7.5, Sapsford 6 (Fatah 66). Booked: Keresztes, Camara, Sevelj. Manager: Jim Goodwin 7.5. Hearts (3-5-2): Clark 4; Kent 5 (Steinwender 46), Halkett 7.5, Findlay 8.5; Forrest 6 (Kyziridis 46), McEntee 7, Devlin 7, Spittal 6.5 (Kerjota 63), Milne 7.5 (Kingsley 77); Shankland 7.5, Braga 7.5 (Wilson 84). Booked: Milne, Braga, Kyziridis, Findlay. Manager: Derek McInnes 8.5.
Scotsman
27-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
League Cup groups and Sunderland test have sharpened Hearts for Aberdeen opener
The Jambos go into their first match of the 2025/26 Scottish Premiership season on the back of a five game winning streak. Sign up to our Hearts newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Zander Clark believes Hearts' Premier Sports Cup group stage fixtures and Craig Gordon's testimonial match against Sunderland have helped sharpen them up as a team ahead of the new Scottish Premiership season. The Jambos won all four of their League Cup matches and ran out comfortable winners against English Premier League outfit Sunderland at Tynecastle in their final pre-season match. Attention now turns to the visit of Aberdeen to the capital on Monday, August 4. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "At the end of last season, there was frustration of not being in Europe,' said Clark. 'When this season comes around, we had a job at hand in the group stages. 'They were competitive games, we had to be right at it. These ties can be tricky, but we handled them brilliantly. It sets us up well. "Going into the game today against a tougher opposition than what we've faced this pre-season, I thought we looked very sharp and very well organised. That sets us up well going into the league opener on Monday." Well drilled Hearts show benefit of competitive pre-season by putting Sunderland to the sword The match honouring Gordon saw two teams at opposite ends of their pre-season preparations going head-to-head and it showed. Hearts were visibly sharper and more alert while the game seemed to pass the visitors by. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Unlike Hearts, opening weekend opponents Aberdeen have not faced any competitive action since the end of last season. They were beaten 3-1 by Ipswich Town in a friendly match at Pittodrie on Friday night. For Clark, it's been pleasing to see how well the new group of players have managed to gel. He is looking forward to the benefits it should bring to the club. "We've gelled well. There's boys from all over the world in now, but they've integrated into the squad brilliantly. "They're bubbly people, they're outgoing, so they want to make time to try and fit in with the squad. It's a welcoming group, I felt that when I came to the club, I was gelled pretty quickly. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad "I'm delighted that they've managed to come in and do well. Hopefully, we can keep that up through the season. 'We were solid throughout (against Sunderland), anything that came our way, they dealt with. "Anything that got past them, I was there to clear up. It was probably one that you're going to ignore. They're a couple of weeks behind us in terms of pre-season and stuff, but it was still a really tough test. "I think over £100 million or something was spent on the squad. They're good quality players, so we had to be by at it. I thought we were.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Special day for Craig Gordon on goalkeeping 'rival' plays his part Clark and Gordon have have been in competition with each other at Tynecastle for the starting keeper's berth for some time now. Despite that,the two get on well on the training pitch and Clark was please to be able to be a part of Gordon's special day. He replaced the 42-year old, who is still recovering from injury, ten seconds into the match. From kick off the ball was played back to Gordon who aimed a massive kick towards Clark in the dugout as he put it out of play. 'I think he was (trying to hit me),' joked Clark. 'We joked about it and then I had sat on the dugout. When I saw it coming, he's actually done pretty well. He's overcooked it. He couldn't be happier with that" 'It was great that obviously Craigie was able to do that at the start. It was, I'm sure, a special day for him and his family. It was good that he managed to get some time on the park. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It was a good game to end the pre-season and get us ready for Monday. It was obviously a special day for Craigie and family, but for us as a team, it was an opportunity to test ourselves against a good opposition. "In preparation for the league start on Monday, I thought we'd done really well in how we handled the occasion and the match. As I say, we celebrated Craigie, but we were right at it and treated it as an actual match"
Scotsman
18-07-2025
- Sport
- Scotsman
Predicted Hearts XI vs Stirling Albion as rotation game in effect with seven changes
The games are coming quick and fast for Hearts, with their latest Premier Sports Cup challenge taking them to Stirling Albion. Currently, Derek McInnes' side have enjoyed 4-1 and 4-0 wins over Dunfermline Athletic plus Hamilton Accies respectively as they look to secure safe passage out the group. Now they travel to Forthbank in search of three more points before the final game of the group versus Dumbarton at Tynecastle. Changes are likely to be made with players still building up to full fitness but who are some of those who could come in? We take a look at one possible team, with seven changes. 1 . GK - Zander Clark Replaces Ryan Fulton between the sticks. | SNS Group Photo Sales 2 . RWB - Oisin McEntee Playing on right of defence and replaces Borchgrevink. | SNS Group Photo Sales 3 . RCB - Michael Steinwender Maintains place on right of back three. | SNS Group Photo Sales 4 . CB - Craig Halkett Gives Kent a breather, who's played both sets of 90 minutes so far. | SNS Group Photo Sales
The Herald Scotland
16-07-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Craig Gordon gives Hearts injury update ahead of testimonial
However, the man himself is in a race to be fit to play in it after suffering nerve damage in his shoulder towards the end of last season. It kept him out of some of the post-split matches as well as pre-season and Premier Sports Cup matches to date. Zander Clark took his place between the sticks for the win over Dunfermline on Saturday while Ryan Fulton played against his old side Hamilton last night. Sunderland, who paid £9million to sign Gordon from Hearts in 2007, come to town a week on Saturday and the Tynecastle club face Stirling Albion before then. Read more: The experienced shotstopper is unlikely to feature in either of those cup games but is determined to take to the pitch for his testimonial, even if for only part of the game. Speaking on the 'Ha'way the podcast', he said: "It's going to be tight, it's going to be close. I think I'll be okay to play some part in the match. I don't think I'll play 90 minutes but I'm definitely looking to try and get on the pitch at some point. 'Hopefully I'll get on, potentially in the second half, but I'll need to see closer to the time how things are going. I'm stepping up the rehab day by day at the moment so I'll just wait and see where I am when the game comes around." Tickets for the match are still available to buy from Hearts. They are priced at £20 for adults, £15 for concessions (over 65s or those in full time education) and £5 for under 13s.
