Skacel shows heart for gaffer

Jim Black at Tynecastle
Sunday October 23, 2005
The Observer

On a day of high drama and recrimination in the West End of Edinburgh, the Hearts players at least kept their heads while others around were losing their to ensure that none of George Burley's good work was undone by the manager's sudden departure.

But there was an almost surreal atmosphere at Tynecastle as Hearts fans struggled to come to terms with the loss of the man who did so much to restore faith among the faithful, but the Old Firm really can be challenged successfully.

Club officials were careful to prevent the same players from commenting in depth on Burley, but the message emblazoned across the T-shirt worn by Paul Hartley said it all. As the forward made his way to the dugout in a preplanned substitution two minutes from the end, the Scotland player whipped off his jersey to display the words: 'For the gaffer'.

Several dozen fans also had their say when they rounded on the club's Lithuanian owner, Vladimir Romanov, at full-time to express their displeasure and despite attempts by chairman George Foulkes to defuse the situation, the infuriated locals were having none of it.

By then Romanov and 16,575 others had also witnessed the sight of the Hearts captain Steven Pressley receiving a red card from referee Calum Murray in the 90th minute after he had held back substitute Jamie McCunnie.

It hardly mattered that Hearts were reduced to 10 men, for the game had been won long before and while they settled for two goals, the hosts had always been capable of scoring more.

Dunfermline simply had no answer to their opponents' slick play and they were no doubt relieved that the margin of their defeat was not considerably greater. But for all Hearts were delighted to secure their ninth win in 11 league games and preserve their unbeaten record, the mood yesterday was flat and it will be some time before the situation returns to normal at Tynecastle.

Two first-half goals in the space of three minutes removed the fear that the Hearts players would suffer an adverse reaction to the stunning events of the previous few hours.

Dunfermline's hopes that they might be about to catch their high-flying rivals on an off day were dashed in quick succession by Rudi Skacel and Michel Pospisil. Skacel's 21st-minute strike after Edgaras Jankauskas had provided the ammunition for the Czech Republic player to turn and spin the ball past Allan McGregor represented his ninth goal of the season.

Dunfermline had no time to regroup and regain their composure before Hearts struck again, two minutes later, to intensify the pressure on Dunfermline manager Jim Leishman, whose survival prospects would appear to have diminished even further. Having been given the dreaded vote of confidence in the past week, Leishman must hope that his team can turn the situation round quickly to spare him the sack.

However, there was little evidence in Dunfermline's play to suggest that they can extricate themselves from their predicament.

Dunfermline's most glaring problem is that they lack a cutting edge, with Mark Burchill, the former Celtic player, forced to endure the frustration of occupying the role of lone striker. Hearts' free-flowingstyle of play was too much for Dunfermline and the visiting team could do little more than carry out a damage limitation exercise.

It was a measure of Hearts' overall superiority that Dunfermline were rarely seen as an attacking force, while McGregor was kept busy in the visiting team's goal, where his performance was good enough to thwart Hartley and Pospisil in their efforts to increase Hearts' advantage.

McGregor also had to rely on the intervention of defender Greg Shields to stop a shot from Skacel finding the target as Hearts pushed for goals.

Man of the match: Rudi Scakel - incisive finishing.

Taken from the Guardian/Observer