HEARTS manager Csaba Laszlo has vowed to put a smile back on the face of his players – but not at the expense of discipline.
The former Uganda boss is determined to lift the players' confidence on the pre-season tour of Germany after admitting some looked "completely down" during his first week at the club.
But he has also pinpointed indiscipline as one of the main prob
lems at Tynecastle in recent years.
Stephen Frail also made discipline his main priority when he was appointed caretaker boss on New Year's Day – Hearts had three men sent off in a 4-1 defeat by Dundee United the following day.
"If you don't have passion in you and if you don't love your work then you cannot give anything to the other people," said Laszlo.
"If I go into the dressing room my adrenaline goes up. I want to show the people I like my job.
"If the people see the manager coming in the dressing room with wrong body language and not smiling and encouraging the players then he cannot show the right way.
"Everyone has a good or bad day but if I go in the dressing room I put all my problems to the side and concentrate on my job. Normally I am positive all the time. If you don't smile then you are losing the day."
Despite the emphasis on smiling, the Hungarian is determined not to let Hearts' pre- season in Germany turn into a holiday camp.
"If you don't have discipline off the field, you don't have discipline on the field," he added.
"If you don't have control over the players, they will have control over you. In the past the players have control over the managers, and this is not a good way.
"If you go to war, the soldiers cannot have control over the generals.
"You must have a leader and you must have discipline. If I can go for dinner at eight o'clock, everyone must go to dinner at eight o'clock.
"This club must show unity. We must move together, we lose together, we win together, we eat together, we go to training together.
"If a player doesn't like what (he has] to do, he can go."
Meanwhile, Hearts have followed Falkirk's lead by rejecting requests from the Old Firm to be compensated for selling tickets for away games.
Both Rangers and Celtic wrote to their fellow Clydesdale Bank Premier League clubs asking for a five per cent handling fee to sell tickets to their own travelling support.
Falkirk announced on Monday night that they would take on the responsibility of selling tickets to Rangers fans for their opening SPL game, rather than pay the levy.
And Hearts have also rejected the demands from the two Glasgow clubs.
Managing director Campbell Ogilvie, a former Rangers secretary, said: "We received letters from both Rangers and Celtic regarding a proposal to charge a five per cent handling fee for the administration of those club's ticket sales at Tynecastle.
"We have made it quite clear that we will not accept any levy being deducted from tickets sold by either club in respect of matches being played between these clubs and Hearts at Tynecastle Stadium.
"We will therefore require to consider in detail how tickets will be distributed to supporters of Rangers and Celtic at forthcoming matches at our stadium."
Hearts have several months to devise a plan as Celtic are the first Old Firm side to visit Tynecastle on Premier League duty in the coming season, but not until 1 November.
Falkirk will sell tickets to Rangers fans for their 9 August clash via a voucher in the Falkirk Herald, before launching a public sale.
The full article contains 626 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
