JAMBOS DEVELOP BIG BOOS PROBLEM

HEARTS 0

KILMARNOCK 2

HEARTS supporters discovered just what a difference a year can make as they went down at home to Kilmarnock to leave their title hopes in tatters.

And the root of their problems could lie exactly 12 months ago today when George Burley was ruthlessly axed by Jambos owner Vladimir Romaov.

Back then they sat proudly at the top of the SPL table - six points clear of Celtic - thanks to an 11-game unbeaten start to their league campaign.

Yesterday the story could not have been more different as defeat left them trailing the Hoops by eight points. Boss Valdas Ivanauskas's substitutions were JEERED and the fans chanted Julien Brellier's name in protest at the Frenchman being axed from the team.

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Themanner of the defeat left Ivanauskas raging and he snubbed the post-match press conference with the club claiming he was in a meeting aimed at sorting out the team's problems.

However, Hearts' troubles shouldn't take anything from an efficient Killie victory that moves themup to third place in the SPL this morning.

Goals from Danny Invincibile and Gary Wales gave former Jambo boss Jim Jefferies his first victory at Tynecastle since leaving Hearts. The home side's selections continued to spark debate with Andrius Velicka DROPPED despite scoring twice to salvage a point against Hibs in last week's Edinburgh derby.

Meanwhile Robbie Neilson returned to make his 200th club appearance and his Hearts mates formed a guard of honour for the defender before kick-off.

The Edinburgh side started more brightly and early on Graeme Smith was alert to race from his line to just pip Roman Bednar in a race to Edgaras Jankauskas' flick-on.

But for all their posession Hearts didn't make enough clear-cut chances and it was no surprise that their next opening came from a set-piece in the 20th minute.

Frazer Wright was booked for scything Mirsad Beslija just outside the box and Paul Hartley's effort from the resulting free-kick looked to be heading for the top corner until Smith threw himself high to his left to push the ball away.

Five minutes later though Killie took the lead against the run of play and while it was Invincibile who got on the scoresheet Steven Naismith deserves much of the credit.

The youngster picked up the ball just inside his own half, ran at the Jambos defence and when Steven Pressley slipped on the heavy pitch the play opened up for him.

He kept running, evading a challenge by Christophe Berra on the edge of the box, before sliding the ball into the path of the Aussie.

And Invincibile kept his cool to slot the ball low into the corner.

Hearts were shellshocked and there was worse to come in the 32nd minute when the visitors doubled their advantage.

The goal came out of nothing as Beslija slipped on the wet surface to cheaply concede possession.

Wales ran to the edge of the box before firing in a shot that deflected off Berra into the bottom corner past a wrong-footed Craig Gordon.

Amazingly Killie could have had another goal nine minutes before the interval when Invincibile's ball into the box found Naismith free and he was denied only by the woodwork, his header shaking the bar.

The home supporters were getting restless and in the second half the majority inside Tynecastle chanted Brellier's name in protest at the team selection with the French fans' favourite not even a substitute.

One man who was on the bench and must have wondered why he found himself there was last week's derby hero Velicka and he replaced Jankauskas in the 54th minute.

Ivanauskas was then forced into a change when Beslija was stretchered off with Neil McCann replacing him then jeers greeted the final change, Bruno Aguiar for Lee Wallace.

Hearts went with just three defenders at that stage as they tried desperately to salvage something from the match but they got frustrated in their attempts.

Hartley and Billy Brown even got involved in a heated off-the-pitch exchange. The pair scuffled after Killie assistant Brown kept the ball too long for the midfielder's liking after it went out of play - and it was an incident that underlined Hearts' miserable day.

Taken from the Sunday Mail