Steve Lomas is continuing the good work of his predecessors

Chris Tait at Tynecastle

STEVE LOMAS sounds more and more like an experienced manager with each passing week.

Effusive in his praise of his own players, yet deliberately taciturn when talking about how far they can go this season, the Northern Irishman has picked up the patter rather quickly since his appointment at St Johnstone last month.

That he has also accumulated seven points from his first three matches in charge is a further sign he has settled quickly at the Perth club. Not bad going for a coach whose previous experience covers spells in charge of St Neots Town and the West Ham United reserve side.

Lomas was the last manager to be appointed by erstwhile chairman Geoff Brown, but is in a similar mould to both his predecessors – Derek McInnes and Owen Coyle – and we all know what happened to them. It is perhaps a little early to start mapping his route back into English football but the initial weeks of his tenure have still been encouraging. A draw away to Rangers in his inaugural match could, perhaps, be attributed to the usual buzz created by the arrival of a new manager, but subsequent wins against Hibernian and now Hearts are an impressive return.

It will be some weeks before his side settle fully under the new regime and Lomas is able to tweak things to his own preference, but the most notable decision he has made in his nascent career in Perth is to abstain from trying to instigate dramatic change straight away. St Johnstone were progressing under McInnes – which is why he was coveted by Bristol City – and Lomas has accepted that.

"There is a togetherness in the squad and that started under Derek McInnes and has continued under the new manager," said Liam Craig, whose early lobbed finish against Hearts was added to by a Dave Mackay penalty. "He is similar to the last manager and when he takes you aside and talks to you, he gets you believing in yourself, as did Derek McInnes."

That is not to say he has done nothing but set out the cones since taking over. The Perth side were stuttering under the interim management of Alex Cleland and Jody Morris, while he has recovered their prodigious form despite injuries to first-choice strike pairing Francisco Sandaza and Cillian Sheridan. With the latter expected to remain out for six weeks, a period which extends beyond the end of his loan deal from CSKA Sofia, and their replacements against Hearts, Carl Finnigan and Marcus Haber, proving to be as feckless as they were enthusiastic, Lomas may be tempted to test his haggling skills next month.

There are likely to be a few forwards looking for a way out of Tynecastle by then. Hearts have put up the for sale signs – with majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov wanting to relinquish his control of the club and every player to be made available for transfer next month. With the first-team squad still waiting on their most recent wages there is unlikely to be much sentiment compelling them to stay.

Not that they offered much for any watching scouts to get excited about at the weekend. Mehdi Taouil scored with a delightful finish but Hearts were largely disjointed, their afternoon compounded when Jamie Hamill's penalty was saved by Peter Enckelman, however unexpected that may have been. "When we were in the [Active Nation Scottish Cup] semi-final last year we were hoping it wouldn't go to penalties as [Enckelman] didn't save many when we were practising," said Craig.

Taken from the Herald