Hearts on-field problems painfully clear

MIKE AITKEN
AT FIRHILL

Partick Thistle 0
Hearts 0

Referee: C MacKay. Attendance: 5,666

WHILE the smoke and mirrors surrounding Hearts’ business affairs have added a mysterious sub-plot to the club’s off-the-field activities, on the pitch the picture is far clearer.

Lacking ideas in attack as well as players in a first-team squad bereft of experienced options, Hearts were unable to eliminate lower league opposition from the Tennent’s Scottish Cup at the first time of asking on Saturday because of a dearth of creativity.

Although the front players offered little in the way of a cutting edge, it would misrepresent the team’s shortcomings in this tie to blame the absence of a clinical finisher. Even if John Robertson in his prime had been on duty in the penalty box it’s doubtful if Hearts would have overly troubled Kenny Arthur in the Thistle goal.

The truth of the matter was the team once hailed as the third force in Scottish football didn’t create a single chance of note against a club currently occupying ninth place in the First Division and it was unsettling to reflect that Hearts failed to damage a Thistle defence which had already surrendered 35 goals in league football this season.

Apart from the enthusiastic surges of Robbie Neilson from right-back and the promptings of Phil Stamp, Hearts were short of individual inspiration and the cohesion which emerges from assured passing.

Although they should have been awarded a penalty in the first half when Graham Weir was brought down, there were few other occasions when Hearts unsettled Thistle.

The SPL outfit may have dominated possession, particularly in the second-half, but achieved little with a lot of the ball. As the head coach rued afterwards, his players carried next to no punch in the final third of the field and could have few complaints about the tie returning to Tynecastle on Wednesday 19 January. "We didn’t have enough quality in the last third [of the field]," rued Robertson.

"We totally dominated the second-half in particular but never looked like cutting them open. Our decision-making in the last third was poor - when it was on to shoot we crossed and we shot when we should have crossed. You must have belief at the business end of the game and go in where it hurts.

"It summed up our day that Robbie Neilson had our three best efforts and he’s the right-back. So we know where our problems lie and they’re not new - they were also there under Craig [Levein]. The team isn’t scoring enough goals. We will try and get players in as best we can, but in the current financial climate that’s going to be very difficult."

If the departures of Alan Maybury and Mark De Vries to Leicester last week restricted Robertson’s options in Glasgow, it was the absence of the suspended Paul Hartley which proved the most costly loss.

Having been linked with a move during the January window to Nottingham Forest, Ramon Pereira plans to meet with his agent today and discuss where he goes from here. After dropping out of the first team in recent weeks, the striker, who joined the club from Raith Rovers on a one year contract last summer, insists his preferred option is to stay with Hearts but only if he’s playing regular first team football.

"Every footballer wants to play in every game and I’m no different," admitted the striker. "It’s true Nottingham Forest are interested but that’s something I can’t speak about until I talk to my agent when he returns from Spain on Monday. Maybe we can reach a decision then.

"My first option is to stay with Hearts, but it’s very hard when you’re on the bench rather than in the team."

Pereira certainly lifted the flat mood which engulfed the Tynecastle front men when he came on to replace Graham Weir after 64 minutes. A free spirit, the Spanish striker isn’t the easiest individual to incorporate into a team blend. Given the diminishing alternatives available to Robertson, however, it will be interesting to see if the forward moves on.

As Stamp cautioned: "We’re down to 17 players and that’s when everyone’s fit. I feel sorry for the manager. He has an impossible job."

As for Thistle, new manager Dick Campbell could be satisfied with his side’s solid performance in defence. Partick were well organised and didn’t resemble a team which could drop down into the Second Division. Busy in midfield and compact at the back, where Adrian Madaschi was impressively unflustered, Thistle also enjoyed enterprising service up front from Juan Escalas, whose first-half shot hit a post.

Taken from the Scotsman