Robertson breaks Hibs hearts once again

Brian Meek
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10 Nov 1997

Hearts ...........................2 Hibernian.........................0

The late Tom Hart was a visionary, a club chairman who gave much of his time and wealth ensuring Hibernian stayed in the big time.

Bringing George Best to Easter Road was one of his ideas.

He did, however, make one serious mistake: he rejected the opportunity to sign the teenage John Robertson.

The lad, initially keen to come to Easter Road, drifted to the other side of the city and has exacted cruel revenge ever since.

Statistics do not always tell the full story but, in this case, they just might.

Robertson, a month away from his thirty-third birthday, has scored 26 goals for Hearts against their Edinburgh rivals.

The joint top Hibs' scorers in the series are Joe McBride, Ally McLeod, and Mickey Weir.

They each have four.

His strike at Tynecastle on Saturday came after 18 minutes and had a touch of good fortune about it.

Gary Locke tried a shot which was wildly sliced even before it hit defender Jean-Marc Boco.

From there it spun to Robbo.

One touch to control it, a second to slide it past Ole Gottskalksson.

Job done.

Hibs' manager Jim Duffy said: ''The little so-and-so only had one shot at goal and he scores - that is some ratio.

I just wonder if he is ever going to retire.'' Not at the moment, for sure.

Hearts' manager Jim Jefferies insists: ''John is still one of the tidiest finishers in the business - that was one of his trademark goals.

He loves derby games and you have to put his name first on the team-sheet.

''Now I have to credit him with another goal.

He was claiming the own goal scored by Gary Smith of Aberdeen last week.

I promised him if he scored against Hibs we would give him that one too.'' In that case, Robertson has scored 269 in 501 games for his club and I wonder, in these days of much movement between players and clubs, whether we will ever see the like again.

However, and perhaps this says a lot about Hearts' ambitions and Jefferies' management style, he did not hesitate in removing Robbo from the proceedings after 23 minutes of the second-half.

''John was carrying a slight strain but, more importantly, Hibs were having a good spell and I wanted to stop Andy Dow attacking up the left.'' He put the diminutive winger Jose Quitongo on instead.

He has arrived at Tynecastle via Angola, Portugal, and Hamilton and his dribbling talents make one recall a certain Jimmy Johnstone.

In no time at all the 23-year-old was spreading panic through the defence.

John Hughes resorted to pulling Jose's ringlets to stop him.

No-one halted him at all with two minutes to go.

Neil McCann and Colin Cameron were in the build-up before Quitongo shed his marker and banged in the decisive strike.

Already he seems to have captured the affection of the fans.

''I was a bit nervous before I came on,'' he admitted.

''When you are my size you expect defenders to try to intimidate - I am used to it.'' Jefferies declared: ''We bought him because he gives us something different, another option.

The reception he got was tremendous, so was the goal.'' So how good are Hearts and how long can they stay top? Very, and quite a while might be the answers.

Jefferies is not rash enough to make any predictions, yet he can point out that there is a genuine battle for first-team places.

Stephane Adam might be battling for one this week, while David McPherson believes he is almost ready to make a return.

Nor has Jefferies any intention of leaning on the oars.

Two Norwegians, Sander Solberg and Rune Hage, have arrived for trials and he thinks they could be useful acquisitions.

What was impressive about Hearts, apart from a 20-minute spell in the second half, was their composure.

On a treacherous, wet surface they were always looking to create.

Cameron and McCann made an enormous contribution, while David Weir was a class act - the anchor in the defence.

Goalkeeper Gilles Rousset was required to make two vital saves, one from Kevin Harper, the other a fierce drive from Dow which deflected on to the crossbar.

Rousset later talked of the pressure of being the league leaders: ''We feel it but there is a lot harder pressure when you are struggling to avoid relegation.'' Hibs are not in that position yet but their slide down the table has to be arrested soon.

Manager Duffy opined, and I agree: ''I thought the second goal put an unfair gloss on the result.

There is no point in me being angry with my players because they performed well.'' They did indeed, with Dow outstanding and Pat McGinlay battling for everything, yet you could never see them winning.

Goalkeeper Gottskalksson made a couple of excellent saves; his eagerness for punched clearances does not, however, steady the ranks.

Chic Charnley was annoyed at being pulled off but, by that time, his influence was waning and Duffy had to try something different.

That is his problem: there is no shortage of effort but little inspiration right now in the Hibs camp.

This week's visit to Dunfermline is bound to be a tense encounter.

This was by no means the worst derby match in recent times.

Both teams attempted passes rather than punts and the level of excitement was maintained until the second goal.

Some of the credit for that should go to referee Michael McCurry from Glasgow.

He booked McGinlay for the first tackle of the game and the message quickly got through to the players.

I hope it will be spelled out to the Hearts supporters.

Police moved into the crowd when a fan appeared to strike Dow.

There were also arrests when home supporters banged on the top of the Hibs' dugout.

Leading the league brings new responsibilities as well as opportunities.

Quote ''John is still one of the tidiest finishers in the business - that was one of his trademark goals.

He loves derby games and you have to put his name first on the team-sheet'' - Jim Jefferies on John Robertson.

''The little so-and-so only had one shot at goal and he scores - that is some ratio.

I just wonder if he is ever going to retire'' - Jim Duffy on John Robertson.

Taken from the Herald