Hearts 2 - 0 Dunfermline

ROB ROBERTSON at Tynecastle October 24 2005

STEVEN Pressley may have been sent off on Saturday against Dunfermline, but he has a big role to play in the Tynecastle dressing-room in the coming weeks. The captain will be absent for Wednesday's match against Kilmarnock but will be crucial to keep morale up among the players.

The Scotland internationalist was stunned at George Burley leaving the club but believes it is vital that the players put it to the back of their minds and concentrate on keeping Hearts at the top of the Bank of Scotland Premierleague.

They did that superbly on Saturday and Pressley admitted he was proud of the way they performed. "We showed our professional side with a first-class performance and got a result which he [Burley] would have been proud of," said Pressley. "We must continue to do that. I know how popular the gaffer was, but the players are employed to do one thing only – and that is get results.

"We cannot dictate to the board their decisions, we can only answer to them. We are very disappointed but we will have to continue trying to get results for the club."

Afterwards, there was little talk among Hearts supporters about the match, partly because of the Burley situation and also because it was an easy afternoon for the home side, who had the match sewn up as early as the 23rd minute. By that time they were two goals to the good thanks to Rudi Skacel, who netted his ninth goal in 11 games and Michal Pospisil, his fellow Czech.

The only moment which took the shine of the win was the red card given to Pressley, who pulled back Darren Young in the last minute to prevent a clear, goalscoring opportunity.

It was a blessing for the Tynecastle outfit that it was Dunfermline, and not a stronger side, they came up against after losing their manager a few hours before kick-off. Jim Leishman's outfit was an insipid bunch which struggled throughout.

Their side is full of players who never quite fulfilled their potential. Can it only be a few years since the Young brothers, Darren and Derek, were being hailed as future internation-alists? Mark Burchill, is another who flatters to deceive and Simon Donnelly started on the bench, something he has done much too often in his career.

If it wasn't for the dreadful start Livingston have made to the season, the East End Park outfit would be staring relegation in the face. They were no match for Hearts, who look a strong, confident side with hardly any flaws.

Why Vladimir Romanov wants to tinker with the team is beyond believe. You could have pulled someone out of a local pub before kick-off and asked him to pick the team and he would have come up with the same starting XI that took the field.

It really is a no-brainer when it comes to team selection as, fitness permitting, the Hearts' team picks itself. Craig Gordon looks assured in goal, Andy Webster is settled at the back while Paul Hartley is a human dynamo in midfield. In attack, Edgaras Jankauskas, although he hasn't been scoring too many goals, is a Peter Crouch- type figure, in that his presence creates space for others.

Losing their manager is a bitter pill to swallow for the Hearts players and Hartley and Skacel wore T-shirts at the end of the match with, "For The Gaffer" on them, in a show of solidarity with Burley.

Romanov has pledged to release cash to ship in yet more players during January's transfer window but the question now is who from the present squad will remain at the club and who will want to leave in protest at Burley's departure.

Indeed, just when you think everything is calming down at Tynecastle, things kick-off once again.

Certainly, for Hearts fans, there is never a dull moment. Now, all the talk will be over who the new manager will be and how long he will last in the job.

Taken from the Herald