Christos: Euro slot will restore our pride

Aug 3 2008 By Ewan Smith

CHRISTOS KARIPIDIS insists the only way for Hearts to regain the respect of Scottish football is by making it back into the UEFA Cup.

Karipidis admits Jambos let their fans down and damaged the club's reputation by stumbling to an eighth-place finish in the league last term.

But while the Greek spent much of the summer reliving the nightmare he knows they must now forget the disappointment and focus on a European assault.

Hearts face Motherwell - the SPL's UEFA Cup representative this season - in Saturday's league opener and Karipidis claims that game underlines the fact his side failed to live up to the hype.

The stopper, signed from PAOK Salonika in 2006, said: "The club, staff and fans didn't have a good summer. Hearts were expected to do well last year but didn't.

"Now it's a new season and we must forget everything that happened. If we don't we will lose focus and that is dangerous.

"We must bring European football back to the club.

"If we play well and are united we can have success.

"It's good for everyone to be in the UEFA Cup - we want to play against the big teams.

"I have done it seven times in my career and want more. When you are at that level people respect you.

"You feel confident and other teams believe you must be good to be playing UEFA Cup football.

"It's great for the profile of the club and our standing in Europe.

"But we won't be there this year and Motherwell will. They deserve it because they qualified by playing well and that is what we must do now.

"We want the others to look at Hearts with respect and say: 'They are a big team'.

"We must start the season as we mean to continue and if we play well the fans will get behind us."

But new Hearts boss Csaba Laszlo has told supporters to forget about the "dream" of splitting the Old Firm this term.

Laszlo admits his team are in no position to compete with Celtic and Rangers - although it could be possible in future.

He said: "One day this might be possible but it is important for us to have stability. We must have a good foundation to change some of the wrong things.

"If we can do that maybe in the long-term we can think about closing the gap on the Old Firm.

"Everything is possible and if you have a vision you must follow it. But you must not be a dreamer.

"Everyone here has a vision and we have to work towards that.

However, every good bit of work needs time."

The Romanian coach is keen to strengthen his squad for a European push. And Laszlo is in daily contact with owner Vladimir Romanov as the pair work on bringing in a striker and keeper.

He added: "We're still looking to bring in some quality players.

"I talk every day with Mr Romanov and we hope to bring players to the club.

"We have a lot of names and we're not looking at taking the cheapest ones. We want to take the best but it is not easy."