McCreery proves he's still the boss

JIM REYNOLDS

30 Oct 1989

Hearts 4, St Mirren 0

THE worlds of Bruce Springsteen and Dave McCreery are as far apart as you can get, but the superstar of rock music and the little balding figure who now plies his trade on the footballing fields of Scotland do have one thing in common.

Ask anyone in the music world who is The Boss, and they immediately will answer "Springsteen." Ask the same question around Tynecastle, and the reply will be "McCreery."

Such has been the impact of the Northern Ireland international midfield man that even Hearts manager Alex MacDonald, who is not easily impressed, glows when he talks about him.

Said MacDonald, after watching his side thrash clueless St Mirren at Tynecastle: "Dave is doing a magnificent job here.

We badly needed a senior professional in our side.

We needed a boss on the field, and that is what he has given us."

And McCreery is thriving on the responsibility of guiding the Hearts championship challenge on the park.

If the feet are not doing the business, the hands are working overtime, pointing out where the ball should be directed or where a player should position himself.

"They should call him the traffic cop," quipped one of his younger team-mates.

Yet McCreery's career looked all washed up when he was given a free transfer by Newcastle United.

He then spent a couple of months with Sundsvall in Sweden before it became known he was ready to return to British football.

Hearts beat another half dozen clubs for his signature and already the veteran is proving to be one of MacDonald's best signings.

McCreery completely dominated the midfield against Saints and it was his powerful influence that eventually turned what earlier had been a shocker of a match into a romp for Hearts.

His work in the engineroom allowed others to shine up on deck.

Young Scott Crabbe again gave an excellent performance, capped with a magnificent goal from a 20-yard free kick in the first half, and if St Mirren thought they had been given a break when he had to go off shortly after the interval, they quickly were proved wrong.

John Robertson came on as a substitute and gave notice that he is just about back to his best form.

The little striker, who has played only three full first team matches this season, scored twice and brilliantly set up Hearts' fourth goal for John Colquhoun.

What a boost that should give the Tynecastle men as they prepare to meet city rivals Hibernian next Saturday.

So, what about this enigmatic St Mirren team? They've beaten Rangers at Ibrox and Celtic at Love Street, but apart from that, their season has been a disaster.

Thirteen goals conceded in the last four matches prompted manager Tony Fitzpatrick to remark: "It's frightening."

Saints invested heavily in defenders during the close season -- Fraser Wishart, Tom Black and Roddy Manley -- yet the rearguard leaks like a sieve and looks so pedestrian.

To be fair, it has to be pointed out that each of the new signings has missed a lot of matches because of injury, but they should be getting it right by this time.

HEARTS -- Smith, McLaren, McKinlay, Levein, McCreery, McPherson, Colquhoun.

Mackay, Foster, Crabbe, Bannon.

Substitutes -- Robertson, Kirkwood.

ST MIRREN -- Money, Wishart, Black, Lambert, Winnie, Manley, McDowall, Martin, McWalter, Chalmers, McWhirter.

Substitutes -- Shaw, Kinnaird.

Referee -- A M Roy (Aberdeen).