Shiels unleashes volley of criticism about unwelcoming Tynecastle reception

graeme macpherson at tynecastle

31 Oct 2011

HEARTS 0 KILMARNOCK 1

NO wonder they say it’s the quiet ones you have to watch. Dean Shiels speaks so softly you almost have to lean in to pick up every word, but when he talks it’s usually worth a listen.

The Kilmarnock attacker appeared in the media room at Tynecastle on Saturday – fresh from scoring the penalty that ultimately decided a rambunctious match – clearly with one or two things on his mind.

Just moments after his father, Kenny, the Kilmarnock manager, had torn into Hearts for their aggressive style, Shiels Jr similarly put on the tackety boots – metaphorically speaking, of course – to give Paulo Sergio’s side another verbal kicking.

Like father, like son. As a former Hibernian player, Shiels was never likely to be given a warm welcome in Gorgie but he has almost become inured to the ferocity of the abuse he receives from the home fans.

“It’s been going on for years,” he shrugged. “You get mother, daughter, the lot abusing you here, but that’s normal.”

Shiels, on loan from Doncaster Rovers, however, saved his fiercest criticism for the Hearts players whose “high negative energy”, as his dad put it, contributed to Ian Black being sent off after 16 minutes for a reckless tackle on Shiels, and four others being booked.

Shiels Sr later revealed he believed Hearts to be the most aggressive team in the league and it was a theme his boy also alighted on. “They’re a physical side, Hearts,” he said. “They get the ball to their full-backs and launch long balls in all day. They try and fight for second balls and have got players who go in hard.

“Rudi Skacel’s screaming and falling over and it’s an intense atmosphere, but we stood up and showed a bit of bottle and mental toughness to get the three points.”

On the early collision with Black, there was relief on Shiels’ part that it did not result in a serious injury.

“It was a bad tackle. I don’t think anyone could argue it was a red card. I rode the tackle but he caught me on the left ankle. You’ve got to be sharper than him to the ball and thankfully I was, otherwise I could have got hurt. If I hadn’t got out of the way it could have been a bad one.”

There was a further incident later in the match that may interest Vincent Lunny, the Scottish Football Association’s new compliance officer, in which Danny Grainger appeared to stamp on Shiels’ back. The incident went unnoticed by the match officials but not by the player involved. “He stamped on me and I said about it to the ref. That’s a red card as well. That’s the coward’s way out. Stamping on someone while he’s on the ground, you can’t get much lower than that.”

Like his dad, Shiels felt that Marius Zaliukas was also fortunate to stay on the pitch for his foul on Paul Heffernan, which earned Kilmarnock their second-half penalty.

“I think it was a difficult game for the ref, there were a lot of decisions – like why at the penalty the guy wasn’t sent off. They’re hard decisions but I was convinced it looked like he was the last man and was denying a scoring chance.”

Hearts, of course, had no platform to respond to Shiels’ comments due to a self-imposed media ban related to Sergio’s appearance later this week in front of the SFA beaks. The Portuguese will likely be back at Hampden before too long after being sent to the stand midway through the second half for arguing too long and hard with the fourth official.

There would have been plenty for Sergio to moan about, given the contentious nature of Kilmarnock’s penalty – it was the assistant referee rather than Alan Muir who awarded it – plus the decision to deny Hearts a spot-kick of their own in the first half.

Almost lost amid all the controversy was the fact that Kilmarnock had won their first away game of the season, despite not playing particularly well. “Justice was done as we got our first bit of luck this season,” said Shiels Sr.