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| <-Page | <-Team | Sat 21 Oct 2006 Hearts 0 Kilmarnock 2 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Herald ------ Report | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Valdas Ivanauskas | <-auth | Rob Robertson | auth-> | Kenny Clark |
| [D Invincible 27] ;[G Wales 35] | ||||
| 31 | of 044 | ----- | L SPL | H |
Hearts 0 - Kilmarnock 2ROB ROBERTSON at Tynecastle October 23 2006 Craig Gordon has made it clear that too few players are stepping up to the mark at Tynecastle when the going gets tough – and he went on the attack against the slackers after his side's 2-0 home defeat to Kilmarnock. Although the Hearts players underperformed, this was a match in which the tactical knowledge of Jim Jefferies, the Kilmarnock manager, swayed the outcome more than any-thing else. Jefferies had the guts to change from a 4-3-3 system, that clearly wasn't working, to a 4-4-2 within the first half- hour. From Kilmarnock's very next attack, Danny Invincibile scored, closely followed by a Gary Wales strike that was deflected into the net by Christophe Berra. It was a deserved victory for the Rugby Park side that is near the top of the table mainly because of the managerial expertise of Jefferies and his assistant, Billy Brown. The club may not have a big squad or much money but it is incredible what a well set up and disciplined side can achieve under experienced managers. Compare the magnificent efforts of Kilmarnock under Jefferies to the ineptitude of Hearts under head coach Valdas Ivanauskas and you are reminded that managers can win and lose matches through their tactics, regardless of how good the players are at their disposal. Ivanauskas has made 59 team changes in the last 11 games and seems unclear of what his best team really is. The Lithuanian failed to turn up for his post-match press conference sparking all sorts of rumours about his future. Whether he will remain Hearts manager or not remains open to conjecture, but clearly his tinkering with the starting 11 is getting to the players. Steven Pressley, the Hearts captain, met with Ivanauskas after the game to try and convince him to stop changing the team week-in, week-out. In addition, Gordon spoke out against what he sees as the underperformance of certain players when they do get the call into the first team. The Hearts goalkeeper returned to the matter twice in his post-match press conference and clearly believes some of the high-earners have not been pulling their weight. "We have got some big characters in the team but it seems the same characters come to the fore all the time," said Gordon. "Sometimes we need others to step up to the plate and that did not happen against Kilmarnock. "I would want them to play with a bit of passion, play for the fans and the jersey and the club. There are others who would be desperate to do that and we need that feeling from everybody if we are going to be successful this season." Gordon, when asked if he could understand the fans' frustration at the lack of effort by some players, said: "I think the fans pick up on that. People have to push themselves that bit harder. It should be an honour to play for this club and in front of these fans and people should be doing that week-in and week-out. We need everybody pulling in the same direction." Gordon would not name names, but experienced players such as Edgaras Jankauskas, Roman Bednar, Mirsad Beslija and Deividas Cesnauskis all played badly against Kilmarnock. Questions also have to be asked about Ivanauskas' tactics, considering he kept holding midfield player Ibrahim Tall on the pitch as his team chased the game rather than be more adventurous. The mess of Hearts' team selection, should not deflect attention away from the way Kilmarnock played after Jefferies changed their tactics. David Fernandez put in a magnificent performance up front and was the best man on the park. He has been re-invigorated under Jefferies after disappointing spells at Celtic and Dundee United. He held the ball up superbly well against Hearts and with Jefferies barking instructions at him from the touchline, it is perhaps understandable that the Spaniard hardly gave the ball away. Hearts did enjoy a lot of possession, mainly through the exploits of midfielder Paul Hartley, but created very little. That was down to the efficiency of the Kilmarnock defence. An indication of how the second- half unfolded came from the fact that it took the Tynecastle outfit until five minutes from the end of the match to get a corner kick. The cacophony of boos which rang around Tynecastle at the final whistle and the calls for fans favourite Julien Brellier to be returned to the first-team squad shows that everything in the garden is not rosy in Gorgie. Hearts may remain second top of the league, but club owner Vladimir Romanov would want his side to be closer to leaders Celtic, not eight points adrift. Unless more players step up to the mark and a settled side plays every week, then the gap will only continue to grow.  Taken from the Herald |
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