Hearts prove title credentials

The Old Firm have had exclusive membership of the top two positions for long enough to still be able to treat this application to join them up there with a certain scepticism. The majority of the Hearts signings are loan introductions, the circa £20m debt merely transferred rather than eliminated. Romanov has been speaking in recent days of there being no spending limit and setting his often bemused manager, George Burley, a Champions League target. Well, Romanov will have to fill his planned 90,000-capacity stadium in Edinburgh somehow. Even Burley must wonder just where this ride will take him.

Much easier to focus on what Hearts did yesterday than what they might do next. They demanded Celtic treat them as equals and they got their way. The parity of the result reflected what the visitors now believe their status to be. “We’ve come here and taken a right doing in the past so this shows how far we’ve come,” said Paul Hartley, the Hearts midfielder. “In previous years we would be about 12-15 points behind them at this stage of the season, it ’s never easy coming here, but we don’t have that gap now. People expected us to slip up today, but it shows the positive mental attitude we’ve got.”

Whenever Craig Levein’s Hearts played Celtic they would put the emphasis on the physical. From the outset, there were some crunching tackles here, but they were being made by Celtic players. In the ninth minute, Hearts had two players grounded at once, first Mo Camara felled Samuel Camazzola, then Stephen McManus did likewise to Edgaras Jankauskis. It might not have felt like much of a consolation, but every bruising challenge was a mark of respect.

Martin O’Neill always used to bemoan Levein’s Parkhead gameplan: it was only ever damage limitation. This is a very different Hearts and their fearlessness unnerved the home support. The Celtic faithful might complain about one-sided Parkhead no-contests, but they love them really. There was a stunned hush in the early stages at their opponents’ audacity to be underawed, only broken by an almighty roar of relief for a Craig Beattie goal against the run of play. “I think Hearts have only lost four points in the first quarter of the season so it’s not exactly a bad start for them is it?” said Beattie. “Even before today there was no questioning the ability of their team.”

A Bobo Balde header struck the post, but Hearts were to spring back off the ropes with some counterpunch. As Hartley intimated, just coming here used to be a lost cause, but no longer; Rudi Skacel chased down what looked like one to claim an equaliser. Paul Telfer waited for Artur Boruc who in turn was waiting for Telfer; Skacel waiting for neither, bounding in for the ball and, when he looked up after tumbling down, there it was in front of him to place into an empty net. His

conversion from full-back to midfielder has made him a born-again footballer. Christ, he’s good.

Skacel was linked with Celtic in the summer and it is a connection they must wish they had made. He was booked for overcelebrating his goal and fortunate that Dougie McDonald, the referee, had his back turned to the sarcastic applause that followed the caution. Burley complained if Skacel left the field at all, he had “barely a stud over the line”, while Hartley added: “It’s a bad day if you can’t celebrate a goal. That’s four times he’s been booked for overcelebrating this season, maybe he should stop scoring.”

Skacel is all about attitude. At any break in play, he spun round to his own support and urged more volume; the Celtic fans, in turn, made him their pantomime villain, his every gesture jeered. When he handled in the second-half, Boruc demanded a second yellow, but wasn’t to get rid of him that easily. The same may apply to Hearts in general. “Hearts gave us a right, hard game,” admitted Gordon Strachan, the Celtic manager, adding “ everybody in football takes them seriously now”, before eventually balking at one too many questions wanting him to laud Burley’s side. “That’s better,” he said sarcastically, when eventually asked about his own team.

Burley claims the Old Firm would want his four Scottish internationals, of which one, Craig Gordon, was suspended here. The same applies, though, to at least four of his overseas recruits in Skacel, Takis Fyssas, Julien Brellier and Jankauskis. Impressive again, the latter is the only compatriot of Romanov in the team. Lithuanian pair Deividas Cesnauskis and Saulis Mikoliunas are no longer featuring; local produce is not enough for what Romanov is building.

“I don’t think anyone can knock what we’ve done with the squad so far,” said Burley. Romanov is probably the only person who would try. He still doesn’t think it entertaining enough for his wife, Svetlana, to watch.

The Hearts fans twirled their scarves in unison at the end. They might have been confined to the worst view in the stadium, but were justly proud their players had refused to be cornered. The championship pressure will only intensify, so how much do Hearts have left in the bank? That depends on their banker. Romanov must finish whatever it is he has started.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk