Group stage football saw the jambos and the Dons struggle domestically and both managers paid for it with their jobs.
Steven Naismith has performed the European juggling act before. But so had Robbie Neilson and Barry Robson .
But, as Neilson and Robson found out, there can be a heavy cost if it doesn’t go to plan and if you can’t get it quite right in terms of the balancing act. Hearts’ last venture was educational. After losing to Zurich in the Europa League play-off, a Conference group featuring Fiorentina, Istanbul Basaksehir and Riga offered glamour and a chance of points.
Neilson didn’t get to the end of that season and neither did Robson in this one after similar experiences with Aberdeen. Hacken were their Zurich. A group with Eintracht Frankfurt, Helsinki and PAOK also brought glamour and points. But again, the strain told domestically. The squad just wasn’t up to the demands.
But those can be just as brutal and taxing an experience once you get there. Sure, the ability to dodge the group stage of the Viaplay Cup is welcome. But those initial Euro ties are demanding and the effects are felt on the home front. Hearts got fourth last year, their reward a couple of ties against Rosenborg and PAOK. Beating the Norwegians was fun but having four points from the first four Premiership games was not. It ramped up unfair pressure on Naismith.
Derek Mcinnes Robbie Neilson Europa League UEFA Aberdeen FC Hearts FC Barry Robson Europa Conference League
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