January window could prove to be Achilles' heel for Hearts
· Yahoo Sports
Perspective is required; we're in mid-February and time when supermarkets are chock-full of Easter eggs and Heart of Midlothian are still riding top of the Scottish Premiership.
I wouldn't have imagined it was possible to see us dominate the league since late September.
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There are many sceptics out there that believe we've had our great fall and are now going to tumble down the league, but those comments don't get any Jambos humpty at the current situation.
Derek McInnes deserves enormous credit and should be the front-runner to win Manager of the Year for what he has achieved, despite clamour for John McGlynn, Danny Rohl or Jens Berthel Askou.
That said, I still think that one or two of the tactical decisions he made against Rangers deserve to be talked about.
The main issue I have is the decision to move Claudio Braga from being the focal point of attack out to the wing to accommodate Landry Kabore.
Braga assisted one and scored the other despite being starved of service in that first half, and both Rangers centre backs John Souttar and Emmanuel Fernandez would have been both delighted at McInnes' tinkering.
The other main criticism I have is that the majority of our January signings haven't made an immediate impact like the ones Celtic and Rangers have had. If we do end up finishing second, third or perhaps even lower at the end of this season, I think we would all point to the January window being our Achilles' heel.
I know it sounds harsh, but we knew for a couple of months that we needed to strengthen our right side – and although we signed Jordi Altena and Islam Chesnokov, they both appear to be project signings, and both need a full pre-season before they can be properly judged.
Granted we got Marc Leonard in to replace Cammy Devlin, but that right side isn't in better shape than the end of December and we didn't get a striker in to give us another option up top, leaving an almighty burden on Claudio Braga as it's clear McInnes doesn't rate Elton Kabangu.
All that said, I still believe that it was mistakes defensively that cost us at Ibrox and we need to stop conceding goals.
I'll be interested to see what McInnes does for the visit of Falkirk. I don't think any of the January signings – Leonard apart – as well as Ageu or Sabah Kerjota have really had any meaningful contributions to the team but it's these sorts of fixtures, at a sold-out Tynecastle, which would be the perfect opportunity to give these guys a chance to impress.
If you can't perform with 18,000 home supporters backing you, can you do it anywhere else in the league?
I think Ageu might get another chance to impress and I'd also give Kerjota or Chesnokov an opportunity as we need pace in both the wide areas.
The last tactical decision I'd make – and I can't believe I'm suggesting this – is to play Rogers Mato on the left ahead of Alex Kyziridis. I'm a big fan of Kyzi, but he's been off the boil the last half a dozen games and I would feel more confident having a fired up and known quantity in reserve on the bench , should we need it.
Saturday's game against Falkirk is the first in a home double-header, and a game where a lot of Jambos are targeting the first three points out of six. It's definitely not going to be easy and I'd take a nervy 1-0 win if offered to keep the lead at the top whilst the games remaining reduce week by week.