HEARTS 0

KILMARNOCK 2

HEARTS are Scottish Cup holders and remain bang on course for more silverware this season - as national hide and seek champions.

The rotation policy of head coach Valdas Ivanauskas is being used as a cheat's charter by players who are taking cover from their responsibilities as easily as they are drawing their executive salaries from Tynecastle.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Ivanauaskas hasn't so much assembled a squad this season as allowed a selfish collective of parasites to develop and live off the efforts of a noble few.

The head coach isn't exactly blameless and his tinkering - that's 30 players used and 59 changes made already this season - has fostered a mentality in too many of his first-team squad that borders on the couldn't-care-less.

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In recent weeks Ivanauskas, or whoever helps pick the team at Tynecastle these days, has been responsible for some downright baffling decisions on issues such as selection, substitutions and positional switches.

Portuguese midfielder Bruno Aguiar and Bosnian winger Mirsad Beslija stole the show against Dundee United three weeks ago but were dropped in the next match against Hibs. Andrius Velicka nabbed a brace at Easter Road and was benched for Kilmarnock.

Fans favourite Julien Brellier could add skill and commitment to any midfield yet finds himself so out in the cold he has been wearing thermal underwear since August.

Meanwhile, lightweights such as Saulius Mikoliunas and Deividas Cesnauskis - Heather Mills to the punters' Paul McCartney - are as likely to be discarded as the winning ticket in the Euro Millions draw.

For all that, the attitude of too many players at Hearts still stinks worse than the brewery behind the Wheatfield Stand and it was brutally exposed by a united and purposeful Kilmarnock side.

Leaving aside youngsters such as Christophe Berra and Lee Wallace, the only starters who stood up to becounted were the four Scottish internationalists - the rest were imposters, pale shadows of the professionals they are paid to be.

Time and again Paul Hartley dropped deep to pick up a pass from Steven Pressley or Robbie Neilson, only to look up and find team-mates trying to camouflage their own lack of interest in a barren landscape of options.

So Hearts went long to their big front men, the crowd went loopy and, in the centre of the Kilmarnock defence, Frazer Wright and Gordon Greer went thanks very much.

Civil war threatened to break out among Hearts players during the interval at Easter Road last week as criticism from the Gorgie reliables scorched the dressing room walls, but after this shambles they were blistering paint from bare brick.

Ivanauskas shamefully stormed out of Tynecastle after the match without offering his fans the chance to hear his thoughts and leaving his press officer David Southern, one of the best and most professional in the business, to attempt to defend the indefensible.

He at least made efforts to earn his money at the weekend, which is more than can be said for the Hearts employees out on the pitch.

But moments before Ivanauskas walked out the front door Craig Gordon had just confirmed what the earlier 90 minutes had made clear to all but the most myopic Jambo - and there are increasingly few of those these days.

If Tynecastle was a fortress last season it is now the bouncy castle of the SPL where teams can come and have fun for a couple of hours before heading home happy.

Man-of-the-match David Fernandez said: "We scored twice and their fans booed their own team, which made our job easier. It must be tough to play at Tynecastle as the fans expect wins every single day and if the players don't perform the supporters get a little upset.

"Hearts started brightly, but we took our chances and that was the difference. They decided to play long balls then and our defence was amazing. We won every single battle on the pitch and that was one of the keys to our victory."

Hearts lost only twice at home in the whole of last season but have already shipped eight points to St Mirren, Falkirk and Kilmarnock at Tynecastle and we're little more than a quarter through the campaign.

Worse still, no one could deny those sides their points and certainly not Killie, who moved into third place in the SPL on Saturday night under the shrewd guidance of former Jambos duo Jim Jefferies and Billy Brown.

They moved swiftly to change a 4-3-3 system their players have found foreign this season to a 4-4-2 to counter Hearts' midfield possession in the early stages and were rewarded with the opening goal on 27 minutes.

Steve Naismith cut in from left to right and as Pressley slipped on the sodden turf he poked the ball wide to Danny Invincibile to drill a shot across Gordon into the corner of the net.

Seven minutes later Killie added a deserved second when Mirsad Beslija lost his footing this time, gifting possession to Gary Wales who went on to fire a low shot past the stranded Gordon with the aid of a Berra deflection.

Naismith almost added a third when his header cracked the bar before half-time but the expected onslaught from Hearts never arrived in the second half as Killie held out comfortably for their first victory in six years at Tynecastle.

For sure, Hartley, Cesnauskis and Roman Bednar all went close but Graeme Smith coped comfortably with everything that came his way while sub Peter Leven and Fernandez, whose performance typified Killie's hunger for success, came close to making the scoreline a drubbing.

Hearts played with a surprising lack of fight and although Hartley and Brown squared up in the dugout when the Killie assistant wouldn't give the ball back quickly enough their warm embrace at the end proved they are still on talking terms.

Jefferies said: "Hearts are a big side and were probably guilty of playing too many balls up to Edgaras Jankauskas. They'll probably feel we scored against the run of play, though they didn't create any clear chances up to that point.

"We knew we didn't have to change a lot in our game at half-time but we were aware an onslaught could come. Instead we were the better team and showed terrific workrate and played some excellent pressing football.

"Perhaps Hearts were a wee bit surprised with our qualities as we did everything right. I had a few harsh words for the players after we lost heavily to Motherwell afew weeks ago.

"However, this time I did nothing but praise them in the dressing room afterwards as their efforts were magnificent."

MATCH STATS

POSSESSION

53% 47%

SHOTS ON TARGET

5 4

SHOTS OFF TARGET

4 5

CORNERS

7 4

FOULS CONCEDED

14 15

OFFSIDES

2 5

HEARTS

MAN BY MAN

Craig Gordon: Helpless at both goals but pulled off couple of decent stops. 6

Robbie Neilson: Pinned back by Naismith and lack of options in front of him. 6

Steven Pressley: Tried to lead by example but too many team-mates lacked interest. 6

Christophe Berra: Strong and solid apart from finding Fernandez pace and trickery a problem. 6

Lee Wallace: Defended stoutly but rarely had chance to go forward. 6

Ibrahim Tall: Defence one week, defensive midfield the next. Eye for pass was out. 5

Mirsad Beslija: Flitted in and out before being carried off with concussion. 5

Deividas Cesnauskis: Didn't want to know. 4

Paul Hartley:Worked to inspire but dragged down by surrounding mediocrity. 6

Roman Bednar:Couldn't make ball stick and rarely offered option up front. 4

Edgaras Jankauskas: First start in two months and anonymous performance. 4

Subs: Andrius Velicka - no heroics this week, 3. Neil McCann - some decent crosses hat found no takers, 4. Bruno Aguiar - brought on for late push for goal that never materialised, 2.

KILMARNOCK

MAN BY MAN

Graeme Smith: Outstanding handling in difficult conditions for keepers. 8

Grant Murray: No-frills performer served side well defensively. 6

Garry Hay: Full-back had unsteady start but soon settled into fine performance. 6

Frazer Wright: Didn't put foot wrong against burly Jambos frontmen. 7

Gordon Greer: He and Wright had Hearts strikers in back pocket all game. 7

James Fowler: Overrun early on but became midfield influence against Hartley. 6

Danny Invincibile: Terrific goal and always a pacy danger out wide. 6

Allan Johnston: Settled into terrific game bossing middle of park. 7

Steven Naismith: Sluggish in early stages but went on to link well from left. 6

Gary Wales: Former Tynecastle frontman was isolated in attack early on but drew others into action when he could before going off injured just before hour. 6

David Fernandez: Terrific vision and energy kept Hearts defence on toes. 9

Subs: Peter Leven - Wales' replacement gave Jambos defence no peace, 4. Paul di Giacomo - late replacement for tiring Fernandez as Killie saw out time, 1.

MOMENT THAT CHANGED THE GAME:

Scoring the opener against the run of play inspired Killie to go on and dominate.

Taken from the Daily Record