More than stomachs upset at Tynecastle

James Traynor

10 Sep 1990

HEARTS are not well.

Their play was anaemic and if vitality is not restored soon the Tynecastle side's aspirations could be dead by the turn of the year.

They did no more than stagger through their game against Rangers and were powerless to prevent the defending premier-division champions from strutting their stuff in the afternoon sunshine.

Afterwards, Hearts' manager Alex MacDonald said several of his players were suffering from a stomach virus, which had weakened them significantly, and now the infirm have been ordered to stay away from the ground until Wednesday.

It is also the intention to have them checked out by doctors to find out how they can be rid of the virus.

Apparently, the first effects were felt on the team's pre-season stints in Romania and Spain, but it had been thought the malaise had passed before the season started in earnest.

However, five players -- Colquhoun, Bannon, Ferguson, Crabbe, and Mackay -- currently are suffering.

The manager's problems were heightened by a knee ligament injury which, although not serious, was enough to keep Levein out of action, and he must have suspected the afternoon would be a depressing one long before any of the 22,101 customers had realised there was something far wrong with Hearts.

They were able to do hardly anything right and some of them, in particular, Foster, who just had a bad day, looked almost embarrassed.

The striker was not in sync and if he set off on a run it was without the ball, or if he tried a pass it was wayward.

He was for ever running a hand through his hair wondering why it was all going wrong, and around him others were suffering also.

Colquhoun, who normally plays an artistic role in Hearts' better performances, drove away from the ground after the match mouthing the word "help" through the window of his car.

Apart from the illness which MacDonald says continues to plague Tynecastle it is obvious the players also are suffering from a lack of confidence, and there is no medical cure for that.

Only the sight of the ball hitting the back of the other team's net, and the accumulation of league points, can restore belief, although having watched the players trudge from the pitch at the end of a 3-1 going over they have travelled a long way down into the depths of despair.

One point from three matches suggests much more than stomachs are upset at Tynecastle.

Players are taking more time than anyone thought would have been necessary to adjust to the idea of trying to make things happen through Ferguson in midfield, and it appears McPherson and Levein have not looked comfortable in the centre of defence so far this season.

Rangers, however, were a stark contrast in that they cruised through the game always in control and rarely under any pressure.

There was a nonchalant touch about their football, and there was McCoist, the striker who simply refuses to go away.

McCoist has been dropped into a deeper role operating just off Johnston and Hateley, and in two games he has scored five times.

He scored the second and third goals against Hearts and throughout the 90 minutes appeared sprightly and alert.

He even played a significant part in the first goal, scored by that amiable young Dutchman Huistra.

In fact, so polite is Huistra that he said Scottish football is the same as the game played in Holland.

All around him eyebrows were raised in disbelief, and then he said: "Almost the same.

Scottish football is maybe a little tougher."

Rangers now turn to the first Old Firm match of the season in confident mood, believing that if they strike their best form they will beat Celtic at Ibrox next Saturday, but Souness will want to spend some time this week working with his defenders, who were sloppy in dealing with a corner four minutes from time.

Kirkwood crossed to the far post where the towering McPherson headed back into the danger area and a scramble ensued.

Eventually, Wright prodded the ball into the net and although McCoist's second goal, a minute later, took the sting out of the manager's criticism, he knows such lapses could be costly as the season progresses.

Taken from the Herald