Lenny Hands It To Hearts

The first half was pretty uneventful apart from the ordering off of Gordon Strachan and Hearts coach John McGlynn (not like the mild-mannered McGlynn to get involved). Only Stuart Dougal knows why but of course - as when he sent off Neil Lennon at Ibrox - he doesn`t actually have to tell anybody. Which says a lot about the problems we face with referees in Scotland.

Dougal`s performance was summed up by two incidents - first when Tall was lying injured (and later had to be stretchered off) he allowed Hearts to play on and mount an attack. Minutes later, in an identical situation (although this time Brellier played on after treatment despite appearing to be at death`s door) he stopped Celtic just as they approached the box. Now why did he treat those two things so differently? You`ll have to ask him. Except that he won`t answer. Nor will he explain his refusal to give Celtic any free-kicks more than ten yards in front of the half-way line.

The game was riddled with mistakes from both sides (as well as the officials), the usual hundred miles an hour stuff you get at Tynecastle. Hearts went in front just after the break - although there seemed to be a blatant handball in the build-up - and enjoyed a spell on top. Celtic though fought back and scored an excellent goal through Petrov and then looked the more likely side to get the winner.

There probably wasn`t a Celtic fan in the ground who wouldn`t have agreed that the game was crying out for Neil Lennon as the midfield was being overrun. Although Celtic equalised Lenny was indeed brought on but blundered badly by attempting a suicidal pass-back from the half-way line. There was little time for the Celts to come back but Dougal still managed to squeeze in a refusal to give Petrov a penalty as he was bundled over from behind.

Not a good day then and the team certainly seems to need more fresh blood to give it a lift.
Star Player
Boruc - the only one not to make a mistake.
Player Ratings
Boruc
7 Blameless for the goals.
Telfer
4 Usual infuriating self as he did some things well but lots more things woefully.
McManus
5 Maybe the captaincy is too much responsibility for him but he is not up the standard he was last season.
Caldwell
5 Still looking very shaky at times.
Wilson
7 Solid but please can we sign a left-back so he can go back to right-back?
Nakamura
6 Not his type of game.
Petrov
6 Excellent goal and some other nice touches but his heart clearly isn't in it. Time to let him go.
Jarosik
5 Probably a culture shock for him but he will have to adapt to these kind of physical opponents quickly.
McGeady
6 In and out of the game and refused to take direct opponents on.
Zurawski
4 Just not in the game - something is clearly wrong with him.
Miller
6 Plenty of effort but absolutely no service.
Lennon
2 No excuses for that basic error.
Pearson
5 Couldn't repeat his heroics of last New Year's Day.
Waterlogged
What the hell was up with the section of pitch which was waterlogged? They better get that sorted before next week as UEFA will not be impressed.

And did no-one at Tynecastle think that with Lennon and Riordan on the bench it might have been a good idea to station a few stewards in front of the Hearts 'fans' in the enclosure? May have saved them from being showered in spit every time they ran past. Mind you, with the announcer leaving a convenient gap after their names for some booing maybe they were happy to encourage it.