Inverness CT 0 - 1 Hearts

Burley will know deep down that while it is gratifying to pick up full points from a game where performance is less than satisfactory, there are several areas of his side requiring his attention as a coach with a reputation for quality.

This is not to say his squad is lacking skill and technique. It is simply that at Inverness there were signs that the glorification of the Tynecastle men in winning all seven of their Premierleague fixtures to date may be a little misplaced.

There can be little doubt that, in Steven Pressley and Andy Webster they have central defenders over which other coaches would drool, and in midfielders like Paul Hartley and Rudi Skacel there is talent in abundance. The latter two, however, were somewhat muted during 90 tough minutes as the Highland rain swept over the Caledonian Stadium pitch and the 2500 supporters who travelled from Edinburgh, waited for the excitement expected of their heroes.

True, in one flash of brilliance, Skacel stunned the home side with the only goal of the game – his seventh strike in as many games – just on the half-hour mark. But he and Hartley were given little leeway by a battling Inverness midfield where youngsters Ian Black and David Proctor, a Hibs reject, had the enthusiasm of youth and technique to match.

Burley was right in his post-match comments to state that Inverness were solid and hard to break down and that it was a test of character for his side. He was correct, too, to say it was probably the worst attacking performance of the season from his side and that it was organisation and will that won them the game.

It will, on the other hand, have the Tynecastle supporters, asking whether those attributes alone will be enough to dislodge the Old Firm from the No.1 perch they have been sharing between them since middle of the 1980s.

"It wasn't a classic," said the Hearts manager, "and there are areas we have to work on but you can't fault the boys – attitude and commitment. We worked our socks off even though the free flowing football wasn't there and that's what got us the three points."

Burley will be concerned about the lack of punch up front, where the threat of Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednar was snuffed out by Darren Dods and Grant Munro.

Both those Inverness players were involved in a move five minutes before the break that would have brought them the equaliser but for the over-eagerness of Craig Dargo.

When Dods' effort came back off the post and Munro followed it up, the ball appeared to have beaten the Hearts goalkeeper, Craig Gordon. Dargo, however, wanted to make sure the ball would cross the line and stabbed it forward. Unfortunately for Caley Thistle he was offside.

Hearts have Livingston to contend with in Wednesday's CIS Insurance Cup tie and may be encouraged to rest one or two players, especially with that visit of Rangers three days later in mind.

Burley had a look at Samuel Camazzola in serious action for the first time on Saturday. The Brazilian – unknown to his manager as well as everyone else at Tynecastle, save the club's owner, Vladimir Romanov – replaced Jamie McAllister 10 minutes into the second half and did, in the judgement of his manager, reasonably well, though it was early days for any great pronouncements to be made about exactly where or whether he will fit in down Gorgie Road.

Camazzola arrived, it will be remembered, under Romanov's edict: "I own the club and buy the players. It's up to the head coach to make them into a team." Or words to that effect.

Certainly, if we interpreted Camazzola's broken English properly after Saturday's game, he accepts it will be difficult for him to break into a team with so many quality players and that he has no worries about the cold Scottish weather, pointing out that only a couple of days ago, the temperature in his home town of Caxias Do Sul in the south of Brazil plummeted to zero.

For Craig Brewster, the Caley Thistle player-manager, there are concerns that a home win continues to elude his side, an unhappy situation he will hope to rectify when Dundee United visit in the CIS Cup on Tuesday.

"We needed a bit of creativity when we had the ball," he said. "Hearts don't allow that very easily and that's why they are up there. They are defensively very strong.

"They have a great engine in midfield. Skacel's flying and scoring goals for fun, not that he did much against us. But he got the goal that won them the points."


Taken from the Herald