War of words leaves Kyle happy as Larry

Frank Gilfeather at Pittodrie

18 Oct 2010

Suggestions that Ban Ki-moon, of the United Nations, should be put on stand-by for the next bout between these two teams – December 11 at Tynecastle, Mr Secretary General – are not to be taken lightly.

Indeed, if the 90-minute conflict between these sides at Pittodrie is a barometer, Mr Ki-moon might stay away and send in a peace-keeping force instead.

Seven bookings, a clutch of walking wounded at the end of it all, and the scorer of the match-winning goal branding Zander Diamond, the Aberdeen centre-back, a cheat, may need an entire team of diplomats to bring about calm between such warring factions.

Yet Kevin Kyle, the accuser, continued to brush aside peace proposals on Saturday, after describing Diamond’s actions of “rolling about the ground, screaming and shouting like a baby” following a clash which, the Aberdeen man claimed resulted in the Hearts striker elbowing him in the face, as farcical.

“Paul Hartley [the Aberdeen captain] told me I needed to calm down or I would get myself sent off,” said Kyle, angry at Diamond going to ground. “I just said to him not to be so silly. I am an aggressive centre-forward and although I put myself about I have never been malicious in my career.

I don’t know why he [Paul Hartley] was telling me to calm down because it would probably have been better for them if I had got sent off because I wouldn’t have scored the winner and Aberdeen might have got a point. I am the one who is going away happy as Larry.

Kevin Kyle, Hearts striker

“Their assistant manager [Scott Leitch] told his players I was just being aggressive. He was right and I am right. So, I said to Paul I am not even listening to you because I have done nothing wrong.

“I don’t know why he was telling me to calm down because it would probably have been better for them if I had got sent off because I wouldn’t have scored the winner and Aberdeen might have got a point. I am the one who is going away happy as Larry.”

Leitch, incidentally, was ordered to the stand by a busy Mike Tumilty, the referee, who booked seven players in a hard-to-handle 90 minutes. The Pittodrie assistant manager’s anger at seeing rookie midfielder Ryan Fraser yellow-carded minutes after he was introduced from the substitute’s bench, was brought to the referee’s attention by the fourth official, John Beaton.

Kyle’s winner, a diving header shortly after the break, gave the Edinburgh side a deserved three points, lifting Hearts into fifth place, though Mark McGhee, the Aberdeen manager, remains convinced he is on the right track to deliver a winning team.

With only 8000 home fans in the ground, however, there are clearly many who disagree with that assertion.

“Everybody will look at it and one point out of 18 and it isn’t good enough,” Hartley said. “We feel we have a squad that is well enough equipped. We have had lots of injuries and we are getting players who are just coming back from injury.

“Once we get everybody back we feel we can have a good season.

“We are very upbeat and we have good young players coming through and we feel we can climb the table.”

Meanwhile, Jim Jefferies, the Hearts manager, expressed a desire that Marius Zaliukas, welcomed back into the first team following his stand-off with the club over contract negotiations, will pen a new deal this week.

It would be a move, said Jefferies, that would help the Tynecaslte club attain what he believes is their rightful place as Scottish football’s third force.

The Lithuanian certainly didn’t appear to have missed first-team football – he hadn’t played since August 21 – and strolled through a difficult ninety minutes.

Taken from the Herald