Wouter Vrancken has a track record of delivering instant success and is aiming to take Hearts one step closer to silverware on Sunday. In his debut season in the dugout, he guided KV Mechelen back to the Belgian top-flight and completed a double by winning the Belgian Cup. Then, in his first full campaign at Sint-Truiden, he led the club to their highest league finish in 60 years.
The 47-year-old has already won over Hearts fans with his attacking style of play and hopes to put that philosophy into action when they face rivals Hibs in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden.
Previous Cup Success
Reflecting on his earlier achievements, Vrancken said: “In my first year I was in professional football, we won the Belgian Cup with the second division team KV Mechelen. In 2018-19, I took over in the second division and we won the Championship. On the 16th of March, we went up to the first division and on the 1st of May, we had the final of the cup.”
He added: “It's always great when you win something. When you win a cup, when you win a title, it's always a big thing. But we're far from that at this moment, so we have to focus on the game on Sunday.”
Semi-Final at Hampden
Vrancken noted the unique atmosphere of the occasion, saying: “Here you have the semi-final already in Hampden - the national stadium, a full stadium but in Belgium it's only the final. You approach it because of what you want to see on the pitch and how you want to do it and focus on those things.”
“It's normal that the weight of the game is different, especially for the fans also. You want to play for this because it's an all-or-nothing game when you play cup games like this. It's always the form of the day so you have to prepare well as an individual also - be 100 per cent fit and well as much as possible because you have to put it in that game.”
Resilience from European Run
Hearts have faced high-pressure games this season after reaching the Conference League group stages. Their physical and mental resilience has been tested, and Vrancken hopes that experience helps. He said: “Let's hope that the things before already helped them. Like for example in Trabzonspor, a full stadium there.”
“Now we have more than 23,000 people at Hampden, Hearts fans who will support us. It will be another feeling than in Trabzon, but also a full stadium, a big stadium. You have to focus on the emotion. You always have emotion in sport but the emotions have to be in what you have to do, how you handle it, how you are proactive.”
