We were shocking, admits Killie manager

Jim Reynolds
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29 Sep 1997

Kilmarnock 0 Hearts 3

MAYBE it was the unfamiliar surroundings - this was Kilmarnock's first Saturday home match of the season - but the Ayrshire side looked pretty dreadful for 45 minutes and in no great shape for their European Cup-winners' Cup return match against Nice at Rugby Park on Thursday night. I have seen total strangers more in tune than the Kilmar-nock defence and Hearts took full advantage to go back to the top of the premier division, hitting two goals in the opening 15 minutes and another just before the break to put themselves in an unbeatable situation. Obviously, Kilmarnock manager Bobby Williamson was not a happy man at the finish and he was not looking for excuses. Bobby is a pretty honest manager and he took his share of the blame for what was a bad day for his side. ''The first half was shocking, and all round it was a bad performance,'' he said. ''Defensively, we didn't seem to know what we were doing, and to lose three goals at home is totally unaccceptable. ''I'll hold my hands up and take my share of the blame. After all, I picked the team and the sytem, but the lads have got to take a long, hard look at themselves, too. ''The three at the back just didn't play as a unit and the wing backs didn't play. ''Now we have to get back to doing what we are best at, and we will be working on that in the run-up to the Nice match. ''It has taken this club so long to get back into Europe and we don't want to go out at this stage, so we will be giving it a real go on Thursday.'' What Kilmarnock can't afford is a repeat of Saturday when they were torn apart by Hearts in a blistering opening spell by the Tynecastle side. After just seven minutes, Steve Fulton took a corner on the right. Nobody picked up the tall figure of David Weir and he leapt to steer a header behind Colin Meldrum. Eight minutes later, Neil Pointon played a ball forward to Colin Cameron, who touched it back for Jim Hamilton to drill a low shot inside the right-hand post. Even at that point it was clear where the points were heading. Hearts should have had more and just when it looked as if the home side had escaped lightly, the Tynecastle men struck again two minutes from half time when Hamilton headed a ball to Stephane Adam, who hooked a shot past the keeper. Kilmarnock did make changes at the interval, putting on Alex Burke and David Bagan and taking off Ray Montgomerie and Pat Nevin, and although there was an improvement, there was never any chance that they would fight their way back. Indeed, as in the first half, it was Hearts who created the better chances. Said Hearts manager Jim Jefferies: ''We didn't have a passenger out there today. But we are not getting too carried away because we're at the top - we know it's just the start of the season. ''It's all about consistency and you can't be any more consistent than we have been since the start of the season. That can't be a bad thing. It could have been five at half time. Our first-half performance was the best of the season so far. ''At half time, there was nothing I could say to the players. We played some really exciting football. I, as a manager, thought it was great and I think the fans did, too. ''It's also nice to be back on top of the league. We went there the previous Saturday - it was five years since we topped the table - but it lasted just five days, until Rangers beat Kilmarnock during the week. ''Now, if we can win at Motherwell next week we will stay top. After that there is a break, because of Scotland's final World Cup match and when Celtic come to Tynecastle on October 18 the atmosphere will be electric.'' Next league matches: Kilmarnock - Celtic (a). Hearts - Motherwell (a). Kilmarnock manager Bobby Williamson, who made two substitutions at half time, including keeping defender Ray Montgomerie inside, said: ''I could have taken off any of the defenders, but Ray had already been booked and we were playing badly enough with 11 men. We couldn't afford to go down to 10.''

Taken from the Herald