Goalkeeper’s slip adds up to capital punishment for Hibernian

It is surely no coincidence that for all of the big-money transfer purchases from Easter Road in recent seasons, none of them have been goalkeepers.

Scott Brown, Garry O’Connor and Derek Riordan, to name but three, have made lucrative careers for themselves on their ability to trouble the opposition goal. Yet, for all the scouts and managers that continue to flock to watch Hibernian in action in eagerness to see the next big thing, not one has left with a note scribbled in their pad with anything positive to say about their goalkeepers.

A curse or simply bad management and judgment? Mixu Paatelainen, the new Hibernian head coach, must decide, and quickly, whether to retain with the services of Yves Ma-Kalambay after the young Belgian cost his side a point in the Edinburgh derby.

Ma-Kalambay was brought in as the long-term solution to the problem after a long line of gaffes in Edinburgh derbies and other highprofile matches by his predecessors, Simon Brown, Zibi Malkowski and Andy McNeil. For all his physical attributes and presence, Ma-Kalambay emits practically nothing in the way of confidence to his increasingly exasperated back four.
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John Collins, the former Hibernian manager, made it well known that the lack of funds in the transfer market was the key reason behind his decision to walk out on the club in late December. Perhaps the Easter Road board should be relieved as the £360,000 Collins did spend on players - Ma-Kalambay from Chelsea and Alan O’Brien from Newcastle United - has proved nothing short of wasteful.

Ma-Kalambay had the audacity to claim he was not at fault for Andrius Velicka’s soft headed goal which gave Heart of Midlothian their first win since November 11. Quite appropriately, the goalkeeper refused to put his hands up and admit to an error, instead blaming his teammates for not doing their jobs even when it was clear to see he had fumbled Velicka’s header over the line.

To be fair to the goalkeeper, he had made an excellent stop minutes earlier to keep out Ruben Palazuelos’s deflected shot, but mistakes cost goals and this will go down as another bad day at the office for Hibernian’s supposed shotstoppers.

“It wasn’t a goalkeeping error as in where the goal came from,” Paatelainen said. “It was a set-piece and we missed a header and weren’t sharp enough for the knockdown. It isn’t big Yves who is to blame here. There are plenty of other players. It’s definitely not a case of pointing the finger at one player.”

Paatelainen - in charge of only his second match since taking over from Collins - has his work cut out on this evidence as his side were bullied into submission by their rivals. New signings Ian Murray and John Rankin will take time to settle, but a further injection of fresh blood is required to address their sudden decline.

Hibernian’s chances were few and far between but they could have escaped with a point if a late claim for a Christos Karipidis foul on Chris Hogg been awarded. The home side were also aggrieved not to be given a spot-kick of their own when Velicka was fouled in the box, only to be booked for simulation.

Stephen Frail, the Hearts caretaker manager, said: “The referee said no and he was booked and that’s just the way it has to be at the minute, I’m afraid. I’ve not seen the re-run on television but, if it shows that there was contact made, it doesn’t say we have a team that doesn’t dive but it does prove that at times there are genuine penalties.

“It’s vital to build on this. We’re not sitting back and saying we’ve turned the corner and that we will finish third or anything like that. It’s a wee step and it’s a step in the right direction. At the minute that’s all we can do.”

The Tynecastle side will hope to maintain this form tomorrow night when they take on Motherwell at Fir Park in their Scottish Cup fourth-round replay. Steve Banks, Hearts’ reliable goalkeeper, put the result down to to new-found harmony in the Tynecastle dressing-room. “We’ve had a few team meetings and bonding sessions,” he said. “There has been a lot of talking done. These meetings and get-togethers will hopefully bear fruit.

“Obviously, it was an excellent three points for us. Getting the win was the most important thing. It was important we showed commitment and a passion - something that has been lacking recently.

“It is always great to get a clean sheet. As a goalkeeper it makes a difference playing with a recognised back four and the boys in front of me were excellent. We defended as a unit. This is a confidence booster for the team and it is bonus it came against Hibs.”

The Tynecastle side are still officially advertising the post of manager, with Gudjon Thordarson, the head coach of Icelandic team Akranes, in the frame. Banks, however, believes they already have the right man in place.

“The lads are absolutely delighted Stevie has been given the [caretaker manager] post for the next three months,” Banks said.

“The boys know what you get from him and his heart and soul is in this club. We are 100 per cent behind him.”

How they rated:

Heart of Midlothian (4-5-1): S Banks 7, R Neilson 7, C Karipidis 7, C Berra 7, J Goncalves 7, D Cesnauskis 7, M Stewart 6, E Jonsson 6, R Palazuelos 8, A Driver Y 7, A Velicka Y, 7 Substitutes L Wallace 4 (for Stewart, 64min), S Mikoliunas 4 (for Cesnauskis, 69), C Nade (for Palazuelos, 80) Not used: H Bjornsson, J Thomson, R Beniusis, A Ksanavicius.

Hibernian (4-4-2): Y Ma-Kalambay 5, K McCann 6, R Jones Y 7, C Hogg 6, I Murray 6, M Zemmama 6, B Kerr 6, G Beuzelin Y 6, F Morais 8, A Benjelloun 6, D Shiels 6 Substitutes: S Fletcher 5 (for Benjelloun, 46min), J Rankin 5 (for Zemmama, 67), D Gray (for Morais, 80) Not used: A McNeil, R Chisolm, D McCormack, P Hanlon.

Taken from timesonline.co.uk