Hearts show life after Levein

USUALLY when a club loses a manager, it is through choice. Few managers put themselves into a position where they are the ones making the decision. That should, in time, make Hearts feel better about losing Craig Levein to Leicester, but the mood was still subdued at Tynecastle yesterday, even in victory. The man who achieved remarkable results while containing the club’s debt has himself become its biggest loss.
After eight-and-a-half years, yesterday is likely to prove Peter Houston’s last working day at Tynecastle. He confirmed he will be joining Leicester as first-team coach, with the same responsibilities as his existing No 2 role at Hearts, but not the same title. An unnamed former Leicester player currently working for a Premiership club at youth level, will take that role.

“It was an emotional day for me, and a bit of a flat one for the club after Craig leaving, but I feel it’s the right time for me to go,” said Houston. That said, he will remain in caretaker charge, assuming Levein agrees, for Thursday’s Uefa Cup tie with Schalke, if a new Hearts manager is not appointed.

Ramon Pereira has a hairstyle from another decade, but this could yet be his year at Tynecastle. His trickery was a constant threat to Dundee in the opening half, even if he was never quite able to conjure a finish. His worst miss came on 12 minutes, when Robbie Neilson’s cross gave him time to measure a volley, only for Pereira to miscalculate badly and send his shot some distance over. Next he made a chance for himself, teasing the Dundee defenders only for the joke to be on him when he slid his eventual shot wide.

To Pereira’s credit, however, he is an unselfish player, and on 26 minutes his neat pass released Kevin McKenna clear on goal. Jonay Hernandez’s attempt at a saving tackle played man rather than ball and Craig Thomson, the referee, had two decisions to make. The first, a penalty, was obvious, the second, a red card for Hernandez, more debatable but probably correct. “Once he gives a penalty, it’s a sending off,” admitted Jim Duffy, the Dundee manager, “but it’s whether he fell over the defender or the defender brought him down that’s open to interpretation. Jonay’s absolutely shattered and it had a huge bearing on the game.”

The resulting spot kick went to the normally reliable Steven Pressley, but to complete a week of surprises at Tynecastle his effort crashed against the bar. The Hearts captain, who later backed John Robertson to be Levein’s successor, is prepared to pay a penalty himself for the miss. “I said I would give myself two misses, so that’s two now. It’s a sad day,” he smiled.

Within a minute, the frame of the goal again kept Dundee in the picture when McKenna’s floated header struck the angle of post and bar. A goal was coming and arrived on 34 minutes. Pereira was again the provider for his strike partner and McKenna, though forced wide, produced a shot that seemed to beat Derek Soutar, the Dundee goalkeeper for pace: a lack of pace. Deceived by the Canadian not making a full connection, Soutar conspired to allow the ball through his hands and it looped into the net.

There are some games when you barely notice that one team is a man down. This wasn’t one of them. Hearts were using their advantage to dominate possession and a second goal looked inevitable. Paul Hartley’s cross from the left on 51 minutes almost produced it when McKenna got a flick that beat Soutar only to strike the woodwork for a third time in the match. Hearts were hitting the bar with the frequency of an alcoholic.

Soutar denied Alan Maybury with a decent near-post stop, then Callum McDonald’s excellent tackle prevented Pereira completing a sharp exchange of passes with McKenna with a goal. Dundee’s somewhat bold response was to bring on an extra forward in John Sutton, deciding that it was better to burn out than fade away. That plan almost went up in smoke in an instant, but Hartley’s strike from the edge of the area went narrowly wide for Hearts.

An increasingly false scoreline was put right when Hearts were eventually able to double their lead on 81 minutes. Graham Weir, the substitute, picked out Hartley’s run and, after a glance at his options in the centre, he chose to score himself with a fiercely struck angled drive. In injury time, the last kick of the game was another in the teeth for Dundee. Dennis Wyness, on as a late substitute for Pereira, rapped a third into the roof of the net from close range. One for the road, Craig, seemed to be the message.

STAR MAN: Joe Hamill (Hearts)

Player ratings. Hearts: Gordon 6; Neilson 6, Pressley 5, Webster 7, Maybury 6; Hamill 7 (Janczyk 79min, 5), Kisnorbo 6 (Weir 79min, 5), Hartley 7, McAllister 5; Pereira 7 (Wyness 84min, 5), McKenna 6

Dundee: Soutar 5; McNally 5, Hutchinson 5, Mann 6, Hernandez 4; McDonald 6, Smith 7, Fotheringham 6, Robb 6 (Sutton 66min, 5); Caballero 6 (Larsen 76min, 5), Lovell 5

Booked: Neilson (1min), Caballero (15min), Mann (19min), Maybury (19min), Smith (54min)

Sent off: Hernandez (26min)

Referee: C Thomson

Attendance: 10,172

Taken from timesonline.co.uk