Livingston 1 - 2 Hearts

ROB ROBERTSON at Almondvale January 26 2005

John Robertson, the Celtic assistant manager, was at Almondvale last night amid growing speculation that the Parkhead club are about to table a bid for Paul Hartley.

A magnificent free-kick from the Hearts midfielder, which cancelled out a strike from Derek Lilley, showed his worth to the Tynecastle side before a goal from Lee Miller gave the visitors all three points.

If Hartley's goal and overall display has sealed him a move to Celtic, the Gorgie faithful will shudder to think how bad things would be without him. They chanted "Hartley must stay" at the end and meant it.

Lilley's 74th-minute goal, a result of confusion in the Hearts defence, looked like earning bottom club Livingston three valuable points before Hartley and Miller heaped more misery on Richard Gough.

Hartley has 18 months left on his contract and £300,000 has been suggested as the amount needed to take him away from Tynecastle.

He is Hearts' only player with any real creative spark and it was his promptings which created their best chances last night.

It will be a test of the Tynecastle club's resolve if Celtic do come in with a bid. Vladimir Romanov, the prospective new owner, is expected to buy out Chris Robinson, the club's chief executive, in the next few weeks.

The Lithuanian has talked of building rather than demolishing a team but losing Hartley so soon after Mark de Vries and Alan Maybury would send out the wrong signals to Hearts supporters.

They are in a period of transition on the park with new loan striker Miller taking time to settle up beside the mercurial Dennis Wyness.

At the back Hearts are strong but from middle to front they are already struggling, with Hartley shouldering too much of the burden as it is.

His performance was a rare highlight in a dreadful game. An indication of how bad things were came when Jamie McAllister hit a shot over the stand and out of the stadium.

In was not an edifying encounter with Livingston looking like a side at the bottom of the Bank of Scotland Premierleague.

Their recent foreign imports struggled and Gough looked a frustrated man as he prowled the touchline.

Although experienced players like Lilley and Oscar Rubio are solid players, Livingston will struggle to beat the drop. Burton O'Brien, a target for Aberdeen, is the only other player on their books who can make things happen and he had a couple of shots which troubled Craig Gordon.

Hearts looked rather one-dimensional, with long balls up to the front man a major part of their play.

It was ironic that at a time when they risk losing Hartley, they gave debuts to two new low-key signings.

Halmar Thorarinsson, an 18-year-old Icelander, is here to the end of the season as is Saulius Mikoliunas, who formerly played for FC Kaunas in Lithuania, a club sponsored by Romanov.

The pair tried their best but on this display are hardly replacements for Hartley.

Like the game, the Livingston goal was a scrappy affair. O'Brien punted a long ball into the Hearts box which McAllister missed and let bounce off his arm.

With the home players claiming a penalty and Hearts distracted, Lilley nipped in to score. The goal brought great relief to Gough and his team but it was short-lived.

Livingston (4-4-2): McKenzie; Dair, Dorado, Rubio, Bahoken (Stanic 63); Kriston (Easton 73), Hand, Wilson, O'Brien; Lilley, McPake (Horvath 76). Subs: Meldrum, Vincze, Brittain, Snodgrass, Bookings Bahoken

Hearts (4-4-2): Gordon; Neilson, Pressley, Webster (McKenna 73), McAllister; Simmons (Mikoliunas 67), MacFarlane, Hartley, Hamill; Wyness (Thorarinsson 67), Miller. Subs: Moilanen, McKenna, Mikoliunas, Stewart, Elliot, Thorarinsson Bookings Webster

Referee K Clark

Taken from the Herald