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The Football Show · 3 September 2026
Hearts manager Wouter Vrancken reflects on a 3-1 Edinburgh derby win at Hibs, and makes clear he believes the best is still to come. Vrancken praised a "brilliant first half", his players "manning up" in the duels and staying above the emotion of a hostile away derby, and hailed the travelling support for making Easter Road "feel like a home game". He singled out Josh McPake for becoming more decisive, and insisted there is "100%" more improvement in this Hearts side: "It doesn't end here, it's just starting."
WHAT DID WOUTER VRANCKEN SAY AFTER THE EDINBURGH DERBY?
Vrancken was proud of how Hearts handled the occasion, winning the first long ball, showing quality on the ball for the goals, and keeping their concentration after Hibs pulled one back. He thanked the fans for the synergy between the stands and the pitch, and framed the win as a marker of where Hearts are heading rather than a finished job.
HOW GOOD WAS JOSH McPAKE?
Vrancken was delighted with McPake's progress, noting he had struggled to be decisive earlier but has improved every week, and praised not just his goal threat but his overview and decision-making in the final third.
Hibs 1-3 Hearts Post Match Interview Transcript:
Wouter, how pleasing was the win and the way your team played?
It was really pleasing actually. We played a brilliant first half, I think, and I was happy to see that, because it's not easy for players, with the weight of the game, playing an away game. Like we said already before the game, you have to be there, man up, be there in the duels, show yourself in these loose balls, and this is focus and concentration.
At the same time you have to be above the emotions of the game, because otherwise you lose the overview to find spaces, to find free players, to find your quality, and I think we did really well in the first half. We were there, we won even the first long ball. We were there in these moments, and also we showed the quality on the ball, with the goals you saw.
Second half, we discussed at half-time that the only thing that could get us in problems is if we gave the moments away, and they adapted some things at half-time, and the moment we gave it away, then you give them some confidence there that was not needed. You give them confidence, you get the crowd behind their team, you give them some sort of momentum, and then it's important that we kept the focus, kept the concentration. Because when you have a setback, and you have a lot of games already played in a short time, it's not always easy to keep it like this, and I'm really proud that we did it.
Also, big thanks to the fans, because I think a lot of moments in the game it felt like a home game, they were really loud, and it's really good to see the synergy between what's going on on the pitch and off the pitch. This is how we have to fight every team, all together, in the stands and on the pitch, and it's nice to see that it can happen and that we can take a result like that.
The fans were impressed with Josh McPake. What did you make of his overall performance?
Yeah, really good. Of course, it was a really good team performance, but I'm happy to see the individuals like Josh make their steps, because it was not always easy at the beginning, he had some troubles being decisive in the friendlies and in those moments, and we spoke about it, and he makes improvements every week. I like to see them being decisive because it gives extra confidence to the players and the attackers, and I'm also happy to see not only the goals he makes, but that he can keep the overview in the final third and make the right decisions, and that's a very important quality too.
Do you feel as if there's more to come from this side, because of the quality you have at your disposal now?
Yeah, 100%, we can improve 100%. I think we can improve the quality on the ball for sure, and we have to try to push and make those steps. We'll be dropping one time, it's ups and downs, we're human beings, but that's not how we have to see it, we just have to work like this. It doesn't end here, it's just starting, and we have to keep pushing to make improvements and try to improve our game.
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