feeling of discontent

Hearts 0 / Falkirk 0
Michael Grant at Tynecastle

VLADIMIR Romanov was not at Tynecastle yesterday but in every sense his spirit infused the mood and atmosphere of Tynecastle. When the final whistle sounded Hearts supporters jeered their team off the pitch in complete indifference to the fact they had eased to the top of the table on goal difference.

There was hardly a hint of satisfaction, only the sense that most of their fans already seem to regard failure to beat an SPL team as an affront. Romanov would have been proud of such demanding standards, and perhaps happier still to have another perceived SFA injustice to mull over. Roman Bednar said a Hearts player would have been sent-off for the foul which earned Falkirk’s Kenny Milne only a booking.

If the SFA disciplinary department is contemplating a special in-tray specifically for Hearts’ cases, then this may be the latest one. Milne was cautioned for a two-handed shove on Bednar’s chest which put the Czech player on the ground. These days no significant decision can go against the club without someone blowing it up into a conspiracy theory.

“If it is a Hearts player it is 100% a red card,” said Bednar with such conviction the words may as well have been dictated by Romanov himself. “We were speaking and he pushed me to the ground. It wasn’t so hard or aggressive, but it’s a red card.”

Having consulted assistant Neil Brand, referee John Underhill was entitled to the alternative view that Milne’s act was not violent conduct worthy of a red. Even Valdas Ivanauskas, the Hearts coach, seemed willing to let it pass. Contradicting Bednar, Ivanauskas said: “Today the referee was okay. For me it was not a big decision.”

Milne himself recognised he might have been dismissed but wondered if he had become “the strongest man in the world” given that a man of Bednar’s physique went to ground so easily. “Bednar tried to square up to me and put the head on me,” he said.

Had Bednar kept quiet, there would be no potential disciplinary consequences for Hearts. In a fraught, spiky match it was commendable that they didn’t receive a single booking. Falkirk collected three and had no second half contribution from their manager. John Hughes became the third coach sent-off at Tynecastle within eight days for going on to the pitch at half-time to berate Michal Pospisil and Roman Bednar for trying to influence the referee against his side.

“They sent me to the stand for aggressive behaviour. My gripe was that they [the Hearts players] were in the ref’s ear. He felt I was aggressive; I don’t know if that is aggressive. If you’re from Leith that’s just normal behaviour. I apologised to my players. That’s no way to conduct yourself. Football is a passionate game and I am an honest guy. But I am not going to let it take the shine off my team’s performance.”

The draw meant Falkirk left a match at Tynecastle with a point for the first time in 11-and-a-half-years. They are joint top of the table with Hearts, although both could be supplanted if Rangers win by two goals at Dunfermline today, but there were wildly different perceptions of what this draw meant. Hearts regarded it as unexpected damage to their pursuit of the title from what had appeared to be a mundane home game; Falkirk as a precious point from a fixture in which their potential relegation rivals may emerge with nothing.

There are games in which even Hearts’ usually irresistible force and will is not enough at Tynecastle and this was one of them. Only four days after the hurt of losing to AEK Athens at Murrayfield there was a sense of frustration around the stadium which deepened and soured as the game wore on. They were laboured, badly missing Paul Hartley or anyone else with a creative edge in midfield, and had the majority of chances without truly dominating. A spark may be provided by Marias Zaliukas, a Lithuanian attacking midfielder, who is expected to sign on loan from FBK Kaunas this week.

Conceding a couple of points was galling for Hearts but no significant damage was done to their prospects of competing with the Old Firm and the verve and substance which was missing from their play yesterday will doubtless return. Falkirk must be wary of assuming that the natural inspiration which comes from competing at such a difficult venue was reflective of how they will play all season.

Nevertheless, their defence and midfield worked tirelessly to close down and frustrate Hearts. Alan Gow and Pedro Moutinho were often isolated up front, although Moutinho had arguably the best chance of the match only to slash at a volley and watch the ball bounce into the turf and up into Craig Gordon’s arms.

Before he lost the rag, Hughes had sent out a side designed to suffocate Hearts in midfield. Two wing-backs, Tom Scobbie and Jack Ross, worked the flanks, retreating to help the back three when Hearts attacked and pushing on to help outnumber them in midfield when Falkirk had the ball. It didn’t leave much room for Russell Latapy – the 38-year-old’s play was neat and tidy but lacked menace – but it kept Falkirk in the game. Hearts were well into the first half before they began to consistently press and even then their superiority was marginal.

The strain showed as the second half unfolded. When Neil McCann misplaced a pass the barracking he received was unforgiving. Shortly afterwards there was applause when supporters thought he was being taken off to make way for Mirsad Beslija; when it turned out he was only coming over to speak to Ivanauskas, and it was actually Julien Brellier who was being replaced, there were howls of outrage.

Ivanauskas maintained the decision was his, although near the dugout it seemed as though the instruction came via sporting director Eduard Malofeev in the directors’ box.

These are important days for how Hearts fans interact with their side. They have a chance of pushing the Old Firm all the way. But becoming impatient and intolerant of the team when they fail to get their own way at home, as the regulars do at Parkhead and Ibrox, is a harmful trait they would do well to avoid.

Taken from the Sunday Herald