Aimless Jambos feel the four-ce of rampant Rangers

As Velicka looked on from the directors' box, the ink barely dry on his four-year Viking Stavanger contract, even he might have momentarily fretted over the paucity of Hearts' attacking. While David Weir and Carlos Cuellar were strolling it at one end, Christophe Berra and Co were being led a merry dance at the other.

All in all, it was an evening to forget for all connected with Tynecastle. The club hierarchy might have hoped victory over quadruple-chasing Rangers would ease supporters' pain after the departure of 14-goal Velicka to Norway.

They would rightly have been encouraged by four victories, and four clean sheets, from five league outings prior to last night. Quite simply, Hearts' thoughts of a triumph were dispersed very early on by the free-flowing visitors, who scored almost at will.

Christian Nade and Calum Elliot, seeking to fill the void left by Velicka, were largely anonymous in a home forward line devoid of service.

By contrast, Jean-Claude Darcheville and Nacho Novo scored two apiece in either half for Rangers to highlight the value of genuine striking potency.

With Kris Boyd remaining an unused substitute, it appears Walter Smith has that particular commodity in abundance. Stephen Frail must wish for half his counterpart's luck.

"Velicka would have made zero difference," attested Hearts' caretaker manager. "We're missing big players but we aren't making excuses about that. We lost our top goalscorer this week, but even if he had played there weren't any chances created for him to take.

"There needed to be more urgency and tempo to the game, we didn't have any of that. The whole thing was very flat. I didn't see this coming. We were pretty toothless in all areas of the pitch and we didn't get close to Rangers.

"We didn't make tackles, make the goalkeeper make saves, or get crosses into the box. It was just a poor performance from every single player. Their work-rate and commitment has been fantastic since the managerial side of things changed here. I'm not saying there wasn't any of that last night, but it was lacking compared with what it's normally been. We've been turned over. It was as much a 4-0 as you'll see and it could have been more. Our fans pay good money and they deserve better than that. I can only ask them to stick with us.

"We now need to go to Inverness and really roll our sleeves up. We're going to need 11 guys on the pitch, big and strong, with their heads up and their chests out wanting to play. We need to put this result right to keep us on course to finish in the top six. Even that isn't a success for us, we want to be doing better. We've under-achieved all season."

Frail's cutting comments betrayed his feeling that hiding isn't an option following such a hefty defeat. Hearts' inadequacies were magnified by Rangers' exuberance on the night, and, from the moment Darcheville dispatched the opener, the hosts appeared to retreat into a shell from which they never emerged.

Unchanged from Saturday's victory at Motherwell, Hearts encountered a rather conservative looking Rangers side at the start, which Smith deployed in a 4-4-1-1 formation. With such a congested midfield area, a scrappy opening was inevitable. Nonetheless, from a 13th-minute Barry Ferguson corner, Christian Dailly's downward header was flicked goalwards by Steven Naismith, prompting an outstanding reflex save from the fully-stretched Steve Banks.

Hearts' inability to hold possession for any length of time during the opening period would have frustrated Frail, particularly as it allowed their guests a foothold. This was illustrated by the cheap concession of the opening goal on 25 minutes.

Ruben Palazuelos, a mainstay of recent victories, fell under the weakest of challenges from Naismith 25 yards from goal, and the winger's through ball was clipped into Darcheville's path by Ferguson for an emphatic left-footed finish. Naismith had almost laid on top of the ball to prevent Palazuelos prising it from him seconds earlier inside the Rangers half, but referee Stuart Dougal overlooked the incident and the visitors quickly capitalised.

Banks was called upon to tip a venomous drive from Ferguson for a corner as the interval neared and, from the set-piece, Rangers' advantage doubled. The Scotland captain launched a deep cross ball, Cuellar's header was swept, perhaps inadvertently, by Naismith towards Darcheville, who forced his second goal beyond Banks from five yards.

From Hearts' point of view the defending was nothing short of deplorable, something which doubtless would have featured in Frail's half-time address. Smith had the luxury of withdrawing Darcheville at half-time simply as a precaution, but his replacement, Nacho Novo, proved equally as destructive to Hearts. Charlie Adam turned Robbie Neilson to deliver a nonchalant looking cross which the diminutive Spaniard side-footed home on 54 minutes. Sixteen minutes later, the same player backheeled the cheekiest of finishes for Rangers' fourth, again finding himself alone in the penalty area following Adam's cross. Hearts' marking, once more, was non-existent.

With that it was game over, although the travelling Rangers support succeeded in blighting the evening with a series of unnecessary sectarian chants, the lik
es of which their club claims to be trying to eradicate. "The Sash" and "No Surrender" were amongst those given an airing, but the poison in the air couldn't detract from the brand of football displayed by the visitors.

"It was an excellent performance from us," said Smith. "We had to nullify Hearts' strengths and we did that very well while playing some good football ourselves. Scoring the second goal just before half-time gave us a little bit of a cushion that we were going to need. We've given contrasting performances in our two games with Hearts here. The one in September was probably our poorest game of the season. This was one of our better ones."

The converse nature of Hearts' performance compared with that September meeting is equally stark. It is that which will concern Frail most as he prepares for the potentially hazardous trip to the Highlands this weekend.

Taken from the Scotsman