Hearts Fans' Fury After Saints Shocker

Colin Duncan

HEARTS 0

ST MIRREN 1

IT might have been Boxing Day but Hearts didn't have much stomach for a fight as they lurched further into crisis after a second home defeat in the space of five days.

St Mirren's deserved victory saw the shambolic Jambos slump to tenth place in the SPL and prompted a furious Tynecastle crowd to demand the removal of club supremo, Vladimir Romanov.

There was precious little goodwill to all men as the players, who were pitiful, copped a tirade of abuse as the air turned blue at the final whistle.

But the majority of venom from a disgruntled support was directed towards Romanov and the band of Lithuanian nonentities he has foisted on Gorgie.

"Go home Romanov" or words to that effect reverberated around the stadium because, while it has taken some time, the fans have finally come to their senses and realise Hearts are nothing but a faceless institution run by an absent overlord whose motives remain shrouded in mystery.

How else can you explain why a number becomes a target for abuse?

This is how the punters now refer to some of the players because they have either no idea how to pronounce their names or, as is more likely the case, have no idea who these guys actually are.

God knows what grasp of the English language Kestutis Ivaskevicius has, but the message to him was crystal clear.

Come in No.28, Your time is up.It soon would be as he was hauled off to prevent him further embarrassment five minutes into the second half.

Hearts, who have now won only one of their last 10 SPL games, were hopeless against Inverness on Saturday, yet they were even worse yesterday afternoon as St Mirren out-thought and out-battled them.

The Paisley side travelled home with all three points courtesy of Stephen McGinn's first-half strike and a superb midfield display by the outstanding Gary Mason. While Hearts' problem has been keeping clean sheets, St Mirren's shortcoming has been scoring goals with the Paisley outfit netting only four times away from home all season.

Even at Love Street they have mustered a paltry return of just six in the SPL and in a bid to improve on Saturday's 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock, boss Gus MacPherson opted to ring the changes.

Out went Craig Dargo, Mark Corcoran, Andy Millen, Garry Brady and David Barron with Alan Reid, John Potter, Stewart Kean, Franco Miranda and McGinn the five men brought in to replace them.

However, while there was no shortage of endeavour and commitment from St Mirren during the early exchanges - there never is - again they lacked real penetration and a cutting edge in the final third.

What threat there was came from the Jambos and the first chance of the contest fell to Christian Nade after seven minutes when Christophe Berra nodded down a Lee Wallace cross into his path, but the former Sheffield United striker's shot was straight at Chris Smith in the visitors goal.

At the other end Steve Banks, whose name received the loudest cheer from the home support when the teams were read out before kickoff - a clear indication of their feelings regarding the policy to play cock-up keeper Eduardas Kurskis in goal - was a virtual spectator.

Yet, with their first serious foray into opposition territory, St Mirren opened the scoring and sent the Tynecastle faithful into a state of complete outrage.

A routine cross from Ian Maxwell was allowed to float unchallenged to the back post where McGinn, who also found the net at Celtic Park a fortnight ago, was on hand to confidently drill a low shot past a bewildered Banks.

The goal prompted an immediate outpouring of vile directed towards everybody from the players, the coaching staff, the board and, last but certainly not least, Commander Romanov.

As the abuse continued to rain down on Hearts, Billy Mehmet came close to doubling St Mirren's advantage in the 23rd minute. Despite being surrounded by five defenders onthe edge of the box the striker still managed to fire in a shot that Banks did well to save.

Unsurprisingly, the half-time whistle was greeted with boos that could have been heard as far away as Easter Road.

The natives were restless and there was precious little for them to cheer after the break as Saints searched for asecond to kill the game.

Indeed, Mehmet came close to doing just that two minutes after the restart when Tall and Berra both failed to pick him up and his volley sailed inches over the bar.

That lapse prompted the introduction of Michael Stewart and Saulius Mikoliunas for the hopeless Ivaskevicius and Eggert Jonsson. The Icelandic midfielder reacted to his withdrawal by punching the roof of the dugout then storming up the tunnel in disgust.

On the pitch there were yet more signs of the lack of togetherness at Hearts as Banks was forced to make astunning double stop to deny Kean and the unfortunate Mehmet with his defence again all over the place.

On the plus side Stewart's introduction did provide the home side with some badly needed impetus in the middle of the park and at the same time highlighted the folly of starting the match with a centre forward, Velicka, in midfield.

Against the run of play Hearts were almost back on level terms in the 61st minute when sub Michal Pospisil nearly scored with his first touch, forcing Smith to tip his header over.

Had Pospisil's effort gone in it would have been a travesty on St Mirren. Hearts got what they deserved. Absolutely nothing.

MAN OF THE MATCH

Gary Mason (St Mirren)

Magic Moment:Another priceless strike from McGinn.

HEARTS - Banks 8, Neilson 6, Tall 5, Berra 6, Wallace 6, Jonsson 4 (Stewart 49, 6), Ivaskevicius 3(Mikoliunas 49, 5), Palazuelos 6, Driver 5, Nade 4 (Pospisil 61, 4), Velicka 5. Subs not used: Basso, Elliot, Goncalves, Zaliukas

ST MIRREN - Smith 6, van Zanten 6, Reid 6, Potter 6, Mason 8, Maxwell 7, Burke 6 (Murray 66, 4), Miranda 6, McGinn 7, Mehmet 7, Kean 6 (Corcoran, 90, 2). Subs not used: Howard, Brady, Dargo, Molloy, McCay.

Referee - IBrines.

Taken from the Daily Record