Faint Hearts produce a lacklustre performance typical of poor season

STUART BATHGATE
AT RUGBY PARK
FOR the past few weeks, Stephen Frail, Hearts' caretaker manager, has insisted that getting into the top six would be little or no consolation for a thoroughly substandard season. By the same token, failure to do so – which will be confirmed tonight when either Aberdeen or Falkirk go above them – can be judged in itself as no more than a minor setback in the context of the whole campaign.
But, while there may be little difference between a sixth, seventh or eighth place this year, the concern for next year has to be the way in which the teams put out by Frail contested the run-in. Forget the overblown suggestions that Hearts' whole campaign was hamstrung by a poor pre-season: the fact remains that with three games to go they had a good chance of getting into the upper half of the SPL. In those three games they managed only a single goal, and in two of them they played with a bewildering lack of urgency.

In the 0-0 draw against Falkirk, it was probably nervousness which explained the way Hearts played, as they knew defeat would almost certainly end their top-six hopes. On Saturday, however, there was no such excuse. They knew they had to play purposefully and go out to win, but they were unable or unwilling to do so for all but brief stretches of the game, as Frail later admitted.

"They were well aware of what was at stake," he said. "It looked as though we were treating it as a testimonial at times, and it hurts me to say that Kilmarnock looked hungrier. At times you would have thought it was them going for the top six."

The fact that Frail has struggled to explain such poor performances is surely an indication of his lack of experience as a coach, and a sign that Hearts need an older, wiser head in charge. To be fair to the stand-in boss, however, he has never suggested in public that he should be given the post full time, and in any case as caretaker he has not had the decision- making powers that proper managers tend to have.

To cite the most obvious example of how Frail has been hampered by his lack of such powers, Andrius Velicka, the club's top scorer, was sold to Viking Stavanger last month. The Lithuanian may be no world-beater, but it is fair to suggest he would have managed one goal in that three-game run-in – a goal which could easily have meant a couple of extra points.

In the dying moments of this game, for instance, Velicka would have been an odds-on bet to nod in a header at the back post and thus snatch an improbable win for Hearts. In his absence, it was left to Christian Nade to squander the chance by heading into the ground.

Kilmarnock were down to ten men by that point, following the sending-off of Frazer Wright for a second bookable offence. If they had conceded then they would have been cursing themselves for missed opportunities, as they should have had the points wrapped up by the interval.

Although it was Hearts who had the first chance when Saulius Mikoliunas shot wide, the home team were soon in charge. Antony Basso, in goal for Hearts as Steve Banks was one of a number of virus-hit absentees, looked shaky at first but went on to produce several first-class saves. Tim Clancy was the first to test the Frenchman with an easily-held shot, and then Basso saved at the feet of Danny Invincibile after the ineffectual Kestutis Ivaskevicius had lost possession.

Clancy saw another scoring opportunity come off the post as Kilmarnock maintained their dominance, but the best chance of the first half
fell to Craig Bryson. Collecting a pass from Mehdi Taouil about eight yards out, Bryson leaned back too much and sent the ball over the bar.

Hearts at least emerged for the second half looking a bit more urgent, and Christophe Berra came close to opening the scoring from a Laryea Kingston free-kick, but saw his header come back off the base of the post. As the half wore on Hearts tried to get more men further forward: having begun in a 4-5-1 formation, they ended with three men up front, Gary Glen and Calum Elliot having come off the bench. Neither player, however, quite got going properly.

The same could be said for Hearts' season as a whole, and indeed for that of Kilmarnock, who also find themselves on the wrong half of the SPL's divide. Given the financial disparity between the clubs, though, Jim Jefferies' team could at least claim greater extenuating circumstances.

Taken from the Scotsman