Where to now for rudderless Hearts?

SO, what now for Hearts? Should we expect yet another new coach soon? Bring in a couple more sporting directors? Whatever remedy Vladimir Romanov has in mind for his club, it will have to be something out of the ordinary. For a team to go from the inspiring dominance shown at Celtic Park to the utter ineptness of last night seemed impossible. But at Hearts we have grown to expect the unexpected.

The evening may have begun with booming fireworks from behind the east stand at Easter Road, but by the time it ended the fire had well and truly dissipated inside Hearts' belly. And with head coach Valdas Ivanauskas signing himself off from work indefinitely due to ill-health, the question arises of who exactly is going to steady this wavering ship.

Eduard Malofeev is the present incumbent in his post as acting head coach, but even he cannot be considered a long-term option. Saturday's defeat was conspicuous for all the correct reasons from Hearts' point of view. Last night's display was simply inexcusable, a performance lacking in the fundamentals of football - passing and shooting - with Malofeev apparently unable to galvanise his players.

Derby defeats are the most awkward of all to digest, particularly when they eliminate you from a national cup competition. That said, there are issues that reside much deeper within the club, for instance the effect of the seemingly interminable behind-the-scenes uncertainty on these Hearts players. They are now without a victory in their last five outings, three of which have resulted in defeat.

"All the staff and players know we didn't play well. That's why we lost the game," said defender Jose Goncalves. "We were not ready from the beginning. At the start we were not winning second balls and we were not so aggressive. These small things can become very important.

"Hibs did well in the first 15 minutes and we were still sleeping. Come the end of the match they won the game. We have the same team [as last season] but we need to work harder to win games. It's not acceptable because in the last three games we have not played so well. It was a good game in Glasgow against Celtic but at the end of the match it's about who gets the win."

Goncalves has played in two different systems under Malofeev since his return from injury, one incorporating a three-man defence and, like last night, one with a four-man back line. "As a professional you must adapt to the situation. No matter if you play three or four players at the back, you must adapt. That's the tactics from the trainer," he said.

The pre-match instructions from the Hearts trainer prompted Julien Brellier to depart Easter Road rather hurriedly after he was left out of the match squad, however the Frenchman returned during the match to sit in the stand. For most of the evening on the pitch, his colleagues looked forlornly to Malofeev for inspiration. It didn't come.

The game began at a typically frenetic pace and Hearts initially looked as if the impassioned display they offered in Glasgow on Saturday could be repeated in Leith. For Hibs, Scott Brown and Steven Whittaker were guilty of some elementary mistakes when in possession, which contributed to the scrappy proceedings in midfield.

Those orchestrating the home side's engine room quickly recognised that Goncalves was granting Ivan Sproule vast amounts of space on Hearts' left flank, and Sproule soon became Hibs' principle outlet in an attacking sense.

The Irishman loomed large as an immediate threat whenever he received the ball to run at Goncalves, but the Portuguese has an uncanny knack for perfect timing in the tackle and as such Sproule found it difficult to manoeuvre himself in behind the visiting back line.

He should have opened the scoring on the one occasion he did make it past Goncalves, but the right-footed finish crept wide from eight yards. Hearts had the ball in the net in the 20th minute after a fine finish by Marius Zaliukas only for referee Callum Murray to rule that Paul Hartley had backed into a Hibs defender during the build-up. Loud appeals were then heard at the opposite end when Killen went down looking optimistically for a penalty following a challenge with Ibrahim Tall.

The opening goal did arrive almost ten minutes later following a sustained period of Hibs pressure. Killen moved clear of the Hearts defence to strike a left-footed shot that was beaten away by Craig Gordon, and from the resulting corner Rob Jones moved his side in front. The towering centre-back challenged as a straightforward set-piece from Merouane Zemmama eluded both Steven Pressley and Christophe Berra in the penalty box, and it broke perfectly for a volley into the net. Gordon did manage to get a hand to it but the power of the strike took it beyond him.

Brown had a gilt-edged opportunity to finish this cup tie in the 38th minute. Granted space to progress from his midfield berth to the edge of the opposition penalty box, he conducted a tidy one-two with Zemmama which allowed him to face Gordon one-on-one.

The goalkeeper's frame proved insurmountable to his Scotland colleague, though, and Brown's shot was deflected wide by the goalkeeper's spreadeagled right leg. Murphy curled a free-kick just wide of the Hearts goal in the lead-up to the interval, and in truth Hibs retreated for the break in reasonable comfort. Hearts' early energy had dissolved and the quick passing that was so productive at Celtic Park was in serious need of repetition if the Tynecastle side were to remain in the CIS Cup.

The kind of play-acting that characterises modern football across the globe was never better emphasised than in the 53rd minute of this match. Andrius Velicka was penalised for raising his feet in a challenge and engaged in a timid shoving match with Hibs' Zemmama. The Moroccan felt it necessary to fall to the turf holding his face, but was just as quickly on his feet again after realising he may incur a booking for his audacity from referee Murray.

Zemmama then hit a free-kick from wide on Hibs' left flank that was flicked dangerously close by Jones, but of greater concern to Hearts must have been the rather senseless tackling of midfielder Marius Zaliukas. The Lithuanian constantly entered challenges after the ball had gone and, on occasion, with high feet into the bargain despite already being on a yellow card. Brellier must have looked on wondering what he has to do to attain a higher ranking at Hearts.

Zaliukas was putting himself about but Hibs weren't slow to wade into their opponents either, and as the second half progressed the evident tension grew in both camps. Niggling fouls were commonplace and, in between, Malofeev's side still toiled to construct basic attacking moves despite the introduction of an extra forward in teenager Jamie Mole.

Another foul by Zaliukas, this time on Brown, led to Kevin Thomson and Tall being cautioned after squaring up to each other. Seconds later, Malofeev finally did what was necessary and replaced Zaliukas with another striker, Juho Makela.

A looping effort from Killen was the closest Hibs came to concluding the match as a contest, but even without a second goal Hearts posed little threat.

A season that promised so much is now in danger of imploding before Romanov's very eyes if Hearts continue in this rudderless fashion. Clarity is as necessary behind the scenes as it is on the pitch, and the next move by the majority shareholder might be his most critical yet.

Taken from the Scotsman