ALL SMOKE .. NO FIRE

HEARTS are on the brink of their second Euro KO in a month and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Club owner Vladimir Romanov has accused everyone from referees to the SFA all for his side's misfortunes.

But when you point the finger, three fingers always point at yourself and the lack of in-depth quality in a Jambos squad stretched by injuries and suspension, cruelly exposed last night by Sparta Prague, is the fault of the Lithuanian banker.

He has talked in millions since taking over but there was the whiff of abject poverty about the performance last night and the majority of the impressive crowd of 27,255 who turned out at Murrayfield on a miserable night will no longer be fooled.

They trooped into the night after seeing their side being outplayed comprehensively by an outfit in crisis back in the Czech Republic and wondered where now for the club they have supported all their days. Romanov has its future in his hands but European football is set to become a dream, at least for another season, after goals in either half by Daniel Kolar and Miroslav Matusovic.

If Hearts fans want to see miracles they had better hope Smokey Robinson is playing in Edinburgh soon because their team won't score three goals without reply in Prague judging by this performance.

Hearts are set to exit the UEFA Cup, just as they did the Champions League against AEK Athens and it's a cruel coincidence that our clubs' coefficient in Europe is about to take another battering just as our national team begins to climb the FIFA rankings.

Valdas Ivanauskas, or whoever else is involved in team selection at Hearts, caused a stir when the sides were announced and Greek international Takis Fyssas was relegated to the bench.

Scotland Under-19 full-back Lee Wallace took his place while Mirsad Beslija, seen in public less often than Osama Bin Laden, won a rare starting place on the right with Saul Mikoliunas suspended and Deividas Cesnauskis still not fully recovered from a virus.

The pre-match show was pure showbusiness but the fireworks display almost descended into farce when an enormous cloud of smoke failed to lift from the field in time for kick-off.

Italian ref Paolo Bertini delayed the game for a couple of minutes when Paul Hartley walked into the centre circle in a vain attempt to start the match he didn't so much look as if he was preparing for a UEFA Cup tie as auditioning for Stars in their Eyes. The pitch clearly needed spiked as the match finally began and players slipped while passes held up in puddles.

Hearts were almost forked after nine minutes when playmaker Ludovic Sylvestre, signed in the summer from Barcelona, swept forward and exchanged passes with Libor Dosek but his low shot from the edge of the box whizzed inches wide.

It was a low-key opening from Hearts as the conditions clearly denied them the opportunity to press early with the high-tempo, pacy game they reckoned could exploit the Czechs' confidence.

Certainly Sparta did not start like a team in crisis, having sacked their boss after only five games and picking up only two wins in their domestic league.

The Murrayfield artist sat to the side of the Hearts dugout sketching the scene that was unfolding in front of him, but it wasn't a particularlypretty picture.

However, he was almost adding his brushstrokes to a Jambos celebration scene midway through the half when Hartley broke on the right and threw over a low cross that was destined for the feet of Jamie Mole at the back post until keeper Jaromir Blazek cut it out at the second attempt.

Sparta took that as a warning sign as they went up the park and enjoyed their first period of sustained pressure around Craig Gordon's area, which resulted in Kolar's opener.

First dangerman Dosek turned at the edge of the area and Hearts needed a block from Christophe Berra to divert his low shot past a post.

From the resulting corner, Dosek almost sneaked a shot past Gordon at the front post but the Scotland keeper was alert to save on the line.

Gordon then brilliantly touched a 20-yard effort from Sylvestre over the bar and you sensed the opening goal was on its way for the visitors.

It duly arrived 12 minutes before half-time when Sparta found too much space down the left-hand side and Jan Simak was allowed to tee up Daniel Kolar to fire an unstoppable high past Gordon from 16 yards.

Worst almost followed for Hearts four minutes from the interval when set-piece dangerman Simak threw over another excellent corner and although defender Jiri Homola sprinted free at the back post his header from point blank range somehow dropped the wrong side of the bar.

At last it provoked a reaction from Hearts and Mauricio Pinilla found a yard of space in the six-yard box but his header from a Hartley corner dropped straight into the grateful arms of Blazek.

The Jambos came close to snatching an equaliser from an unlikely source four minutes after the restart when a long Robbie Neilson throw was almost nodded into his own net by former Celtic target Michal Kadlec but it spun agonisingly wide.

Mole cut in from the left and let fly with a shot from 14 yards soon after but Blazek punched it to safety.

However, there was little style or substance to the forward play of Hearts, despite Hartley's best efforts, and Tomas Repka and Jiri Homola were dominant in the centre of defence.

Ivanauskas decided he'd had enough and made a double substitution that drew gasps of dismay from the home fans and striker Pinilla was replaced by midfielder Deividas Cesnauskis and Ibrahim Tall came on for Beslija.

The groans almost turned to howls of anguish as Sparta sub Matusovic, on the pitch only a matter of minutes, found space in the box but drew his effort wide from eight yards with only Gordon to beat.

Gordon made quite the most brilliant series of stops likely to be seen in Scotland this or any other season midway through the second half when he denied Dosek, Sylvestre and Karol Kisel one after another.

But there were limits even to his heroics. Sparta killed the game and, realistically, the tie with a second in 70 minutes and this time Gordon was helpless.

Ref Bertini, who had a good game, played an advantage when Kisel was tripped on the right and Matusovic collected the loose ball, skipped inside, and fired a low, left-foot shot into the net from 25 yards.

Taken from the Daily Record