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| <-Page | <-Team | Sun 07 Nov 2010 Hibernian 0 Hearts 2 | Team-> | Page-> |
| <-Srce | <-Type | Scotsman ------ Report | Type-> | Srce-> |
| Jim Jefferies 2nd | <-auth | David Hardie | auth-> | William Collum |
| ----- | Derek George Riordan | |||
| 4 | of 009 | David Templeton 19 ;Stephen Elliott 67 | L SPL | A |
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Hibs are put to the sword By DAVID HARDIE There is at least one crumb of consolation for Hibs boss Colin Calderwood today, that the only way is up for both him and a team scraping along at the bottom of the SPL table. Well, put it this way, there's not much further to drop following the first round of this season's fixtures, 11 matches which have seen the Easter Road outfit pick up just two wins and a mere eight points from a possible 33, separated from the baseme nt place itself only by goal difference. Forget the fact Calderwood's side are distinctly second best in the Capital, it's their place in the top flight of Scottish football which should be causing the greater worry at the moment, the anxiety of fans who already feel as if they've been kicked from pillar to post, not helped with the knowledge that in barely 48 hours, Hibs will begin the second tranche of league games with a visit to Ibrox. If the club's board hoped the introduction of Calderwood in place of John Hughes would provoke the sort of upturn in fortunes which usually follows managerial upheaval then, like everyone associated with Hibs, they'll feel massively disappointed, the new boss suffering three consecutive losses, with defeat by arch-rivals Hearts cutting to the bone. Any signs of improvement shown at Tannadice the previous weekend vanished, Jim Jefferies' players, themselves having endured a miserable week following their capitulation to Kilmarnock, showed themselves to be better in every department. "We'd talked yesterday and the day before," revealed Jefferies, "about winning individual battles, do that and it's more than likely you will come out on top. I think you could see Hearts were up for it." So, too, should have been Hibs, but, sadly, their visitors out-fought, out-muscled and out-played them from virtually first minute to last, Jefferies' game plan of preventing Liam Miller having any influence on the game while deploying David Templeton and Stephen Elliott in the wide areas to keep their opponents stretched worked to near perfection. If Ismail Bouzid and Marius Zaliukas looked less than secure in the opening minutes, it was a potential weakness which Hibs never managed to exploit, Hearts were too powerful in the air and on the ground to allow Hibs the opportunity to turn the screw on the Gorgie defence other than a spell at the beginning of the second half when Calderwood's players saw enough of the ball but were unable to exert any telling pressure on Marian Kello's goal. By that stage, Hibs were already a goal behind, victims yet again of naive defending, that "soft centre" which Calderwood's predecessor John Hughes had identified while manager at Falkirk, and yet a deficiency which prevails to this day. Templeton's lung-bursting run, which saw him travel almost 50 yards, leaving five Hibs defenders in his wake before delivering a precise low shot into the corner of the net was, if viewed through maroon-tinted glasses, a piece of individual brilliance. But looked at from Calderwood's perspective it was a few seconds which, as is so often the case on these occasions, which had a huge bearing on the outcome. The former Scotland defender said: "It was terrific run but we should have dealt with the dribbler a lot better than we did." He didn't say as much but Calderwood was no doubt feeling that one of his players should have taken responsibility in ending Templeton's run by fair means or foul. Templeton's goal was greeted by flares thrown onto the pitch by Hearts supporters who, like their rivals, probably knew the game was won there and then, given Hibs' paucity of attacking options, Derek Riordan again taking on the mantle of sole striker, a catch-weight contest between the waif-like forward and the power of Bouzid and Zaliukas. It took Hibs until the 58th minute to muster a shot on Kello's goal, Riordan's free-kick from 35 yards safely gathered by a goalkeeper who, in Calderwood's estimation, was worked a bit harder than two shots on target might suggest, the Hearts star confidently dealing with anything which came in his direction from either flank. It has to be said however, as the Easter Road manager admitted, that the home side's use of the final ball, whether from corners, free-kicks or open play, ranged between "poor and average". A description which more or less summed up Hibs' efforts over the 90 minutes, shaky defending again allowing Kevin Kyle, who had proved a thorn in the side all afternoon, to beat Sol Bamba to knock the ball down for Elliott to sweep home and kill off any hope, no matter how unexpected, of an Easter Road rising. Calderwood admitted it was such a simple goal to lose, although it was typical of many conceded by Hibs not only this season but over the past few years. All that was left was for a moment of irresponsibility from captain Riordan, the forward lunging at Rudi Skacel with his studs raised and catching the midfielder above the knee. There was no hiding place for Riordan, a straight red card which rules him out of Wednesday's showdown with SPL champions and leaders Rangers, limiting Calderwood's options even further. Riordan insisted that he had grown up in the match-day programme. "I think I've matured a lot," he wrote. "I think the things that people say and think about me are wrong, they just jump on the bandwagon." This undoubtedly gave vent to his frustration in that moment of madness but he'd certainly have done nothing to further his claim for an international return with Craig Levein watching although, who knows, given the lack of forwards available to him in a couple of days' time, Calderwood may just have had a quiet word with the Scotland boss about the merits of a 4-6-0 formation. Calderwood said: "It's important you remain with 11, we did not. It was so close to the end of the game it was pointless," suggesting Riordan will face internal disciplinary measures which may include the captain's armband adorning another bicep in the longer term. As for the match itself, and the inescapable consequences results have had so far, Calderwood said: "When you have had a run of results like we have had, you think you are at the bottom of the barrel and we have to make sure we are. "What's a step forward and give us a bit of hope for the future? Ideally that's at least a point on Wednesday." Over optimistic? Probably. But given there's nothing he can do to reshape the under-achieving squad he inherited until the January transfer window opens - and on the evidence of this display, most Hibs fans will already be viewing the trip to Tynecastle on New Year's Day with more than a little trepidation - other than faith in his own ability as a coach allied to hard work on the training ground, there doesn't appear to be much for Calderwood to fall back on.  Taken from the Scotsman |
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| <-Page | <-Team | Sun 07 Nov 2010 Hibernian 0 Hearts 2 | Team-> | Page-> |
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