Pulses racing as Hearts live the dream

BARRY ANDERSON
AT TYNECASTLE

Hearts 2
Aberdeen 0

ANOTHER day, another triumph, another three points for Hearts. But only two goals this week? That just won't do. George Burley must go.

Now of course the elevated expectations of the Tynecastle support are still some way off being so fickle, but if there truly is discontent behind the scenes between Burley and major shareholder Vladimir Romanov then on-field performances are proving the perfect distraction.

In terms of covering any supposed cracks, a 2-0 disposal of Aberdeen does the job better than Ronseal's quick-drying woodstain. Jimmy Calderwood's side must be considered as genuine as any contender for Burley's publicised target of third place, although, with each passing week, even the expectations of a man as realistic as the Hearts manager must be slowly creeping upwards.

Saturday was another step towards satisfying them. Aberdeen brought with them a backing which totalled almost 3000 in number to supplement the sell-out home crowd, and how ironic that Tynecastle was bulging at its seams for a match sponsored by Cala Homes of all people. Had they had their way earlier this year then the place would have been reduced to dust and rubble instead of being a thriving hive of excitement.

That Cala are still involved with Hearts in some capacity hints at their possible return to the negotiating table in the future should Romanov ordain that the club's future lies outside of Gorgie. However, that issue is for another day, because here and now Hearts are rampant.

They played well without being outstanding against Aberdeen, Rudi Skacel apart. The Czech Republic midfielder displayed no hint of ill-effects after an arduous week in which he earned his second cap for his country as a half-time substitute in Sweden, and orchestrated the midfield from start to finish.

He also claimed the fourth goal of his first four outings for Hearts after 20 minutes, capitalising on the dithering of the Aberdeen captain Russell Anderson to fire a low left-footed shot beyond Ryan Esson. At this stage it is worth pointing out the priceless value of a goal-scoring midfielder to any side which inwardly harbours championship ambitions.

Rangers and Celtic, in monopolising the Scottish title over the last 20 years, have done so on the back of outstanding scoring contributions, perhaps even beyond the call of duty, from their midfield players. Men like Ian Durrant, Craig Burley, Jorg Albertz and Barry Ferguson have all scored a total well into double figures to become the catalysts for past championship celebrations.

Skacel certainly has the potential to exert the same influence for Hearts, and Burley must, after four SPL games and four comfortable victories, be contemplating the possibility of a serious title charge. That's if he wasn't already doing so when he arrived in Edinburgh.

On the opposite flank from Skacel was a devastatingly subdued Saulius Mikoliunas. Muscled off the ball and evidently lacking the kind of streetwise approach required when you have visitors from Pittodrie, the Lithuanian did not emerge for the second half and was replaced by Jamie McAllister, who took up a rather unorthodox position for him on the right of midfield.

More than likely, McAllister would have had a brief to succeed where Mikoliunas had failed and make his presence felt. In launching himself into a chest-high lunge at Chris Clark just seven minutes after coming on, however, he appeared to take his instructions a little too literally and was lucky not to end up back in the dressing-room with Mikoliunas.

Had McAllister been playing a couple of hours earlier in the Old Firm derby, you suspect that Stuart Dougal would not have taken as lenient a view as Mike McCurry, who administered only a yellow card to the Hearts No.14. The home side were certainly mixing it, and the men with the biggest wooden spoons appeared to be strikers Roman Bednar and Edgaras Jankauskas.

For the second goal, a long Craig Gordon kick was flicked on by Jankauskas, who caught Zander Diamond in the face with a flailing arm, and the ball bounced for Michal Pospisil, pictured celebrating with Paul Harley, to hit his first goal for Hearts on the turn, the ball flying into the top left-hand corner past the questionably-static Ryan Esson.

Pospisil had been introduced on 77 minutes as a replacement for the exhausted Bednar, the latter having impressed himself upon the proceedings in a first-half challenge with Anderson which eventually led to the Scotland defender being substituted 11 minutes after half-time with a bloodied face. As it transpired, he was not alone in feeling the brunt of the home strikers.

"Zander has to learn," said Calderwood afterwards. "He was shoved off the ball for the first goal and then he's complaining he was fouled for the second. But we have two centre-halves in there with stitches. You can fill the rest in yourself. But I felt we dominated for long spells, so it is disappointing to come away with nothing. There weren't a lot of chances in the game but Hearts took theirs."

Hearts retained the ball particularly well throughout the second half. They probed and harassed the Aberdeen defence without creating too many clear opportunities. Even Pospisil's goal was a speculative effort, albeit an extremely successful one. But in the end it was impossible to avoid the comprehension of the result. "Easy, easy," chanted the Hearts support as the final whistle loomed. Not quite true as they were made to endeavour all the way by Aberdeen, although it could have been 3-0 had Paul Hartley taken the correct option in the closing minutes and squared the ball to one of the unmarked Jankauskas or Pospisil when he broke free of the Aberdeen defence. Instead the midfielder shot over the crossbar. Nevertheless, Burley remained pleased. "I thought we played well and passed the ball well," he said. "I've said that finishing third would be a tremendous achievement and it would be. This game was difficult because we didn't have much preparation, but I thought the boys were tremendous. That's 13 goals in four games now and another clean sheet.

"Football is all about opinions and Jimmy [Calderwood] is entitled to his, but for me it was always us who were in control. And it is pleasing because we are now eight points ahead of Aberdeen."

No doubt something of a sly retort contained in that last remark, and Burley was equally clever when questioned on his supposedly fractured relationship with Romanov. "I only have a good relationship with him. We speak about players and about which ones we would like to bring in and our talks have only ben positive since I came here. There aren't any problems."

Whether there is a dispute at boardroom level or not, things on the pitch are running like a dream. One the Hearts support don't ever want to waken from.


Taken from the Scotsman