A serving of boring fare

DOUGLAS CAMPBELL

30 Aug 1993

IT was, for some, much too good a day in the City of Discovery on Saturday to have all thoughts channelled on the national sport, and many of those who wore the kits of Dundee United and Hearts appeared wholeheartedly to second that belief.

They went about their work like men who had better things to do.

The sun was much in evidence on Tayside but it failed to disperse the cloak of boredom which enveloped Tannadice, a condition that deepened as the afternoon wore on and ended in a 0-0 draw.

It doesn't say much for the sport in this land when two sides who purport to be up there with the best can dish up such distasteful fare.

The sad thing is that some of the fellows in charge of such teams find little wrong in the way their men go about their duties.

Sandy Clark has hardly warmed the manager's seat at Tynecastle and has a long way to go, but it is a little disconcerting to hear someone in his exalted position claim that the tedium he had just witnessed was "good end-to-end stuff and not bad value for money."

But there were some neutrals at Tannadice who were of the opinion that strolling around the sales with a nail in a shoe offered similar value and as much enjoyment.

One entertainer on the Hearts payroll who usually can be relied upon to thrill an audience is John Robertson, but, alas, it now seems that his efforts are not good enough for the side from the capital.

His surprising absence from the first team line-up was cleared up by Clark who said, with a stern expression, that the internationalist was playing for the reserves.

Robertson's form must have plummeted dramatically for him not to be on a par with some of those who wore the maroon in the match that really mattered.

For United, Ivan Golac, their manager, was aware of what to expect when Hearts came calling, for he witnessed them being emptied from the League Cup by Falkirk just a few days earlier.

The Yugoslavian appeared quite pleased that his younger men matched their opponents' drive to gain possession.

Falkirk pop into Tannadice tomorrow night for League Cup business and will be hell bent on going for United's jugular.

Like the home side, Falkirk's players prefer to let the ball cut out the donkey work which, in turn, is more pleasing to the onlooker's eye.

But anything would be an improvement on Saturday.

Taken from the Herald