Valdas left to survey wreckage

Hearts 0
Kilmarnock 2

HEARTS boss Valdas Ivanauskas dodged questions about his side's 2-0 home defeat by Kilmarnock as he snubbed the post-match press conference - but the club's supporters made their feelings crystal clear as they booed the players off the pitch.

The Lithuanian manager had just watched his side's six-match unbeaten run come to an end and refused to meet with the assembled media following the lacklustre display.

A Hearts spokesperson revealed he has headed straight for the manager's office after addressing his players to analyse a video of the clash - and it certainly wouldn't have made for pretty viewing. Ivanauskas then jetted out to Lithuania yesterday for showdown talks with club owner Vladimir Romaov, the outcome of those discussions being expected later today.

At the weekend the Jambos got, what in truth, had probably been coming for a number of weeks. For while the statistics show the Capital club hadn't tasted defeat since a 2-0 loss at home to Sparta Prague in the middle of last month, several of their results since then have simply been papering over the cracks.

Goals from Danny Invincibile and Gary Wales sent Hearts crashing to their second home defeat of the season, St Mirren the other team to travel to Gorgie and garner maximum points on SPL duty.

It's the third time in the last four home matches that the Tynecastle faithful have showed their displeasure at their side's display as the end of the games against Falkirk and St Mirren were also met with a crescendo of booing.

Last weekend at Easter Road Hearts were rightly lauded for a battling display as they came back from two goals behind against Hibs to snatch a share of the spoils. However, they were helped immeasurably by hapless goalkeeper Zibi Malkowski and without his two blunders it's unlikely they would have achieved the result.

On Saturday they found Killie shot-stopper Graeme Smith wasn't in such a charitable mood although the young stopper was rarely tested and was forced into just one save of any real note throughout the 90 minutes.

And Hearts goalkeeper Craig Gordon, who could do nothing to prevent the two goals that sunk his side, admitted his they must show a marked improvement if they are to stay in touch with league leaders Celtic who are now a whopping eight points clear after their 2-1 win against Motherwell.

"We didn't manage to rally round and do anything in the game and that is disappointing," he said.

"It's not very often we lose two goals in the first half but it's happened in two games now. It's worrying and we need to stop that happening.

"We need to show a bit more passion for the club, the jersey and the supporters and we need that from everyone if we are going to be successful this season. Hearts is a big club and it should be an honour to pull on the jersey and play in front of these fans."

Prior to the weekend's clash Hearts had made an incredible 55 changes in just ten matches, a fact that has undoubtedly hindered the club's bid to achieve the kind of form they reached last season.

Against Hibs the starting XI that took to the pitch were largely derided by both the club's fans and the press yet against Jim Jefferies' men the team returned to more or less what would be considered by most to be the strongest side available to Ivanauskas.

The suspension of the ineffectual Saulius Mikoluniuas allowed record signing Mirsad Beslija a rare run in the team while Edgaras Jankauskas and Roman Bednar were installed in attack at the expense of Andrius Velicka and Jamie Mole.

At the back Robbie Neilson was drafted in on the right side of defence for his 200th appearance which meant Ibrahim Tall was pushed forward to occupy the holding role in midfield.

The Senegal internationalist has hardly put a foot wrong since breaking into the Hearts team yet it's highly questionable whether he has the attributes required for such a position and he looks far more comfortable in defence.

His selection in this role is all the more baffling when a fully-fit Julien Brellier was left sitting in the stand. There would appear to be an aversion to playing the Frenchman which is proving detrimental to Vladimir Romanov's plans of establishing the club as the dominant force in Scottish football.

Yet Hearts began the game well with the sort of start that was reminiscent of George Burley's tenure at the club when they used to blow teams away in the opening stages. Although they created little in the way of clear cut opportunities, Hearts pinned their opponents back inside their own half for the opening 11 minutes and for the capacity crowd inside the ground it looked a case of when, and not if, the Jambos would score.

With only three minutes on the clock a long kick-out from Gordon was flicked on by Bednar to Jankauskas who in turn swept it first time back into the path of the Czech but he was narrowly beaten to the ball by Killie keeper Smith who smothered at his feet.

Jankauskas was next up to try his luck when he was played in on the angle of the box by Deividas Cesnauskis but his curling shot was deflected wide for a corner.

Midway through the half the Jambos created their best opportunity of the clash when Frazer Wright upended Beslija on the edge of the penalty area and a free-kick was awarded. Paul Hartley chose to try his luck and from 22 yards his superb effort was only matched by Smith's excellent one- handed save.

Killie appeared to be rocking at this stage but with 28 minutes gone Tynecastle was silenced when the visitors broke up the pitch and opened the scoring against the run of play.

The always dangerous Steven Naismith was allowed to run at Hearts from just inside their half and as Steven Pressley backed off, he slipped, allowing the striker to play in a pass to Invincibile who took a touch on the corner of the box before dispatching a low drive across Gordon and into the far corner of the net.

There is a little doubt that the scoreline at that point flatted the Ayrshire outfit but the worrying aspect from a Hearts perspective is that for the remainder of he match they rarely looked as though they would get back into the contest.

And ten minutes from the interval Hearts were left with a mountain to climb when Wales capitalised on another slip, this time from Beslija, and drove at the home defence before firing in an effort from a similar position to Invincibile that took a wicked deflection off Christophe Berra before spinning beyond Gordon.

The Hearts support must have been thinking things couldn't get any worse but minutes before half-time they almost did when only the crossbar prevented their side from going three behind as Naismith's header from an Invincibile flick-on hit the woodwork.

In the second period Ivanauskas did attempt to change the game with Jankauskas being replaced by Velicka and the injured Beslija, who clattered into a photographer, being withdrawn for Neil McCann.

However, neither player was able to make much impact and when Lee Wallace was brought off for Portuguese playmaker Bruno Aguiar the Hearts fans, not for the first time this season, reacted furiously by jeering the move.

The second half was punctuated by repeated chants of "Julien Brellier" as those in the crowd made their feelings at the constant omission of the fans' favourite clear. But despite all the tinkering, and a switch to a flat back three, there was little sign of any comeback and indeed it was Killie who looked the likelier team to score again.

By the time the full-time whistle sounded to put the vast majority of fans out of their misery Tynecastle, which had been full, was more than half empty. Next up for Hearts is a home match with Dunfermline that has suddenly become of the must-win variety if they are to avoid slipping out of the title race before November is even upon us.

Taken from the Scotsman