Defeat was sore, but we'll hit back for boss

PAUL KIDDIE

HEARTS boss Craig Levein burst his hand because his players didn’t burst a gut against Motherwell.

Now goalkeeper Craig Gordon insists the Jambos owe it to their manager to bounce back from the Fir Park shambles in their Tynecastle showdown with Rangers in 11 days time.

Levein thumped the dressing-room wall after watching his team crash to the Steelmen on Saturday, his frustrations at his players’ woeful display and inept refereeing from Alan Freeland eventually boiling over at the final whistle.

It wasn’t just his pride which was hurt, the Gorgie boss requiring surgery to insert a pin in his hand after his temper tantrum.

The 2-0 defeat was watched by more than 2000 Hearts fans who had made the trip to Lanarkshire expecting to see their side continue its unbeaten start to the season.

However, after the award of a highly-dubious penalty to the hosts which Kevin McBride slotted home, the writing was on the wall, Phil O’Donnell clinching the point with a stunning volley.

Those were the first goals conceded by Gordon and his defence in the current campaign and the 21-year-old insisted the players owe it to Levein and the fans to bounce back strongly.

"It was a big disappointment on Saturday," he said. "Everybody feels like we let ourselves down. The gaffer said he couldn’t remember the last time we were outworked by a team and that’s what happened on Saturday - Motherwell just put more into the game and got the result.

"Everybody is hurting. The boss was pretty annoyed afterwards. I’ve seen him angry after games and Saturday was up there with the best of them.

"It was quite understandable, though, as we underperformed.

"We have got to get back on the rails and I think we owe it to the manager and the fans after that performance.

"There was a good number of supporters through at the game and they had to watch something like that. I’m confident, though, that we’ll get ourselves together and come out fighting."

It’s not the first time that Hearts have unexpectedly slipped up, similar setbacks having occurred at various stages over the past few seasons.

Gordon is at a loss to explain why that should be, saying: "It is hard to know why it is but it is something which seems to happen now and again with us.

"We came to Fir Park a couple of years ago and got hammered and it happened at Firhill against Partick Thistle last season.

"Now and again we seem to throw in these results and I don’t know why.

"I suppose during the course of the season it is difficult to maintain the level of performance that we’ve been used to. There will be blips but it is disappointing we have had one so early."

Gordon, who flew out with Berti Vogts’ Scotland squad yesterday for Friday’s friendly against Spain in Valencia, was one of the few Hearts players to earn pass marks at Firhill with a couple of excellent saves in the second half as the visitors struggled to cope with their lively hosts.

He had no chance with either goal but understandably that didn’t make the defeat any easier to stomach.

"Elvis was penalised for the penalty and the boys were angry at the decision," he said.

"The second goal was just a wonder strike and you have to applaud them when they come along. I don’t think we did an awful lot wrong as a defence - it was just a good piece of skill.

"Those were the first goals we have lost this season and that was an added disappointment on top of everything else.

"We didn’t score which was disappointing. Paddy (Kisnorbo) had a couple of opportunities in the second half but we really didn’t put Gordon Marshall under enough pressure and when you don’t get enough shots in on goal, you are not going to win matches.

"The reason we lost was because Motherwell worked harder than us. It doesn’t happen that often but it was still hard to take.

"We’ll be looking at the video analysis and no doubt the gaffer will be pointing a few things out and hopefully we can get things sorted out by the time we meet Rangers.

"We have to pick ourselves up as quickly as possible."

Taken from the Scotsman