Celtic 5 - Hearts 0

WHILE Vladimir Romanov makes time to prance about in practice for a Lithuanian reality TV dancing show, his Scottish football team are mincing aimlessly around the SPL's lower echelons after four games without a win.

The club owner's priorities, surely, are out of line somewhere.

Another insipid display at Celtic Park on Saturday failed to alleviate any concerns over Hearts' alarming start to the season. In fact, it merely heightened suspicions that Romanov's grandiose plan has faltered. Badly.

Four months ago, Hearts swaggered into Parkhead and demolished their hosts 3-1 with a performance laced with skill, craft and endeavour. Not one of those qualities was evident at the weekend, exemplifying the need for attacking reinforcements and a more cohesive managerial set-up to be installed as quickly as possible.

The responsibility for both falls on Romanov's shoulders. He wouldn't have it any other way.

It shouldn't be forgotten that Celtic were in exceptional form, their midfield overwhelming the visitors for most of the afternoon. But Hearts simply didn't compete and evinced a basic lack of desire. So what does the majority shareholder propose to do? At present, very little. Except maybe the foxtrot with his eastern European dancing partner. With just over four days until the closure of the transfer window, Hearts deserve better.

Romanov could rightly be criticised for not acting to halt this decline or improve a squad bereft of leadership. The spine of the side has been sold with some top earners still to go and the replacements are, to put it politely, inferior. But others must also accept accountability now.

On the pitch, certain players are refusing to respond to the demands of playing for Hearts. Saulius Mikoliunas: anonymous and disinterested. Kestutis Ivaskevicius: likewise, regardless of his improvement during the latter part of last season. Jose Goncalves: woefully short of match practice and positional sense. Hearts also sorely missed the protection of a holding midfielder on Saturday having used one consistently for the last two years.
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In the dugout and directors' box the silence is deafening, Stephen Frail being the obvious exception. Angel Chervenkov, where are you? For all his astuteness at FBK Kaunas, the Bulgarian must indulge in some quick learning if he is to adapt to Scottish football. He collaborated with sporting director Anatoli Korobochka to make three half-time substitutions against Celtic but neither man deemed himself up to justifying those choices after the match. Instead, a distraught-looking Frail was dispatched to explain decisions that weren't his.

"It was Angel and Anatoli, I'm not going to lie," said Frail when asked who authorised the replacing of Goncalves, Larry Kingston and Ivaskevicius with Christos Karipidis, Andy Driver and Neil McCann. "I can't say I had an influence on it. I'm not saying I disagreed with it either, but if asked a question I'll give you the honest answer. The substitutions would've been a joint one. It was Anatoli, and obviously he's spoken to Angel, who is overseeing things.

"Goncalves for McCann was always being made at half-time but I think the other two were injured. The decisions weren't explained. I knew about the Goncalves one as it was decided before we went up the tunnel but Larry hadn't indicated he was injured, which the players have to do. He was just sitting there and then the next minute he was injured and we had to get him off. A lot of things were happening at half-time. It wasn't great."

Just like the entire afternoon for the Edinburgh side.

McCann made his first appearance of the season in the unorthodox role of left-back, whilst Marius Zaliukas was shunted into midfield in Kingston's place. Karipidis filled in at centre-back. But, by the time the wholesale changes took place, Celtic had a 2-0 advantage from a Christophe Berra own goal and Massimo Donati's solo strike.

"Andy should have scored to make it 2-1 and it would've been a different game," said Frail of Driver's chance just after the restart, which crept wide of Artur Boruc's post. With that opening passed up and Zaliukas looking disorientated in midfield, Scott Brown exerted a telling influence on the second half for Celtic.

He scored the third goal at the back post and created an exquisite fifth for Shunsuke Nakamura. In between, Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink expertly converted a penalty after a Berra foul on Nakamura. All in all, the visiting defence had a porous look to it all day. "I have zero complaints. Outclassed, outfought, outplayed," was Frail's assertion. "There's not a lot else I can say. I'll take the criticism if it's levelled at me and I'll take it if I don't do my job right. But it's a collective criticism. That goes for the players and the coaching staff.

"You're playing against players who are the top players in our country. You don't become a top player just because you have good ability. It's because you've got everything needed to reach that level, and one of the biggest things for me is hard work. The lad Scott Brown is an example because of his energy and the way he wants to work and learn. The most alarming thing is being outfought.

"I can only say we're working. We're in there 24/7 trying to arrest the slide that's happened. I don't want to sit and patronise people and say the Hearts fans are great because they know they are. We need them just to stick by us. They want success and I want to bring them success, but when you see performances like that success can seem a long way away. I'd like to say it's not affecting me but I've got pride as well. I can see how people can say that my reputation, whatever it may be, gets damaged by it. If it does, then fine because I'm not going to say: 'It's not my responsibility, I don't pick the team, I don't make the substitutions, I'm not the one on the pitch'. I'm responsible as much as anyone. I'll try my best to get results.

"People say I should maybe walk away and be the catalyst for things to change. I don't want to walk away. I want to make sure I'm there and bring success to the club because I had good times here as a player and I want it to continue on the coaching side. You can look at our start to the season and say we maybe don't have the quality. I don't think we have the quality of a Celtic or a Rangers at the moment, but I still believe we have good football players. They need to marry their talents with more game awareness and team spirit. I think the team spirit is beginning to wane a little and we need that back.

"I've put that issue back in the players' court. For example, someone walks in to the dressing room with a bad shirt. But no-one says anything. Years ago when I played it would've been hung up or even destroyed. Reference would have been made to it, but there's no real banter. I can't remember the last time we went out as a group for a bite to eat or a couple of drinks.

"We had a chat in the dressing room after the game and some of the players think the language thing is a problem. But they all speak English except Ruben Palazuelos so they can communicate. It's whether or not they want to.

"We have a nucleus of players who are better than what they've shown at the start of the season. Now we have to pick them up. Class is one thing but when we play teams round about us in the league we need to make sure we fight and not just turn up. We've got one heck of a fight now on Tuesday night against Stirling Albion."

McCann was stretchered off near the end after injuring himself in a tackle on Celtic's Scott McDonald, who posed Hearts problems all afternoon. The winger was taken to Glasgow's Royal Infirmary on Saturday night and was diagnosed with broken tibia and fibula bones in his leg which will keep him out of action for six months.

Ultimately, despite the endeavours of Michael Stewart and one or two others on Saturday, Hearts are in dire need of reinforcements this week if their season is to improve. The team's formation, the brainchild of Chervenkov, has again come under scrutiny. Frail commented: "We're playing the shape that we are, with one up front and, in my opinion, Calum Elliot is the best equipped striker to play that role. That message got across on Friday, so it's not like I have no influence. In terms of biting my tongue, the guys are in charge to make decisions and I'll offer whatever opinion I can. It's up to them whether they take it or not."

To be blunt, the lone striker system isn't working and a blind man could see this. If you're going to deploy one, sign Andriy Shevchenko or someone suitable to fill the role. Not possible? Then cut your cloth to fit, which for Hearts means 4-4-2 most weeks. It's that simple, Mr Chervenkov. As for Romanov, this week will reveal all about his intentions and ambitions for Hearts this season.

The club sit third bottom of the league and the transfer window closes at midnight on Friday. Will he persist with murder on the dance floor or turn his attention to murder on the pitch?

Taken from the Scotsman