‘We did it for Miko’

A PHRASE that would have seemed unthinkable a week ago: we did it for Miko. As Stevie Frail tried to unscramble his thoughts after Hearts' pulsating victory, the assistant head coach referred to his team's determination to rally around their absent midfielder, that rascal Saulius Mikoliunas of all people.

A hamstring injury kept the Lithuanian out after a late fitness test but it was the week-long kicking he took in the media which mattered to Frail.

"The Miko thing might have galvanised the team," he said, alluding to the furore over the dive which earned his country a penalty against Scotland eight days ago.

"There was a lot of criticism of him - rightly so - but it went well over the top. That pulled our team together."

In doing so they pulled Rangers apart. Rangers arrived as league leaders with a 100% record but all of that crumbled in a bruising match from which they retreated to lick their wounds.

A defence which had conceded only three league goals all season shipped four within an hour's play. Carlos Cuellar had his poorest game since joining the club, and the team as a whole began the match so badly that Walter Smith speculated aloud that they would not last the pace in a title race if they did so again.

"Our hope is to stay in a challenging position in the championship and that defeat obviously puts a question mark over that," said Smith.

He must restore order for the opening Champions League game against Stuttgart at Ibrox on Wednesday.

"We have aspirations to mount a better challenge in the championship than we have in previous years but if we continue to defend the way we did in the first 25 minutes then we won't do so.

"Hopefully it was just a bad day at the office for our defenders. If it's a recurring problem then we are back to where we started when I came in."

Hearts' season had finally stirred in their previous game when they won at Motherwell, and they strained at the leash for this one.

They took the game by the throat with such focused aggression that Rangers were two goals down in 26 minutes and had three players booked by half time.

Amdy Faye was so shell-shocked by it that his Rangers debut lasted just 45 minutes.

The midfielder, signed last month from Charlton, was at the eye of a storm, with ferocious duels and battles going on all around him.

He made way for Barry Ferguson at half time, the captain having been surprisingly rested. Smith suggested all of Rangers' players would take their turn at being rested over the course of what will be a long season.

The argument for leaving out Ferguson yesterday was that "he doesn't head the ball, the game wasn't exactly a midfielder's playground".

In other words the ball would be in the air so much against Hearts that there is no need for someone with Ferguson's cultured skills.

By that logic Rangers surrendered themselves to playing Hearts' way before a ball was kicked. And if the game would not suit Ferguson, why bring him on at half-time?

Rangers' other central midfielder could easily have been taken off along with Faye: if the new boy didn't know anything about what was in store at Tynecastle then Kevin Thomson knew too much.

Vitriol poured from the stands towards the Hibs old boy and tempers simmered. Referee Mike McCurry was generous in waiting until the 43rd minute before giving him a caution.

Others lost their composure too and Thomson was one of seven booked.

When DaMarcus Beasley lifted his hands to Robbie Neilson the full-back, off-balance, tumbled to the ground and Davie Weir and Ibrahim Tall were the first to arrive at what became a melee.

Then Frail and Ally McCoist were spoken to for shouting at each other on the touchline. Tynecastle roared its approval at all this red-blooded aggression.

For Hearts it was like the old days, feeding off the electric atmosphere to give a visiting team a hounding.

Rangers would have known what was in store for them but their midfield was second best and their defence was unusually flustered. Audrius Ksanavicius ran at Rangers and although Cuellar got a foot in he only knocked the ball square to Andrew Driver, whose screaming shot found the net after brushing both Alan Hutton and the inside of the post.

There was another deflection for their second. Marius Zaliukas fed the ball to the edge of the Rangers' penalty area and Christophe Berra took the sting out of it before Ibrahim Tall latched on to hit a shot.

It took a touch off the stretching Cuellar, enough to help the ball loop up and over Allan McGregor into the net. Rangers, reeling, were grateful to hold on until half-time.

Rangers contributed more in the second half. Ferguson's impact was immediate when his run down the left side of the box tempted Neilson to lunge in for a penalty which Daniel Cousin converted.

The momentum lasted quarter of an hour, until another correct penalty decision at the other end when Hutton bundled into Kestutis Ivaskevicius. Michael Stewart scored for 3-1. It was four when Ivaskevicius drove an 18-yard shot low through McGregor.

The old ground was rocking to its foundations by then. Rangers squeezed in a second goal from Beasley, but that did not stop Hearts' fans singing that they wanted five. They had great fun being greedy.

Hearts substitutes: Ivaskevicious for Driver 48, Palazuelos for Zaliukas 72, Elliot for Nade 76 Not used: Kurskis, Kancelskis, Pospisil, Karipidis Booked: Neilson 32, Stewart 52, Ksanavicius 78 Rangers substitutes: Ferguson for Boyd 46, Darcheville for Faye 46, Novo for Cousin 76 Not used: Smith, Naismith, Lennon, Loy Booked: Hutton 22, Beasley 32, Thomson 43, Cuellar 62 Referee: M McCurry Att: 16,400

Taken from the Sunday Herald