Heart of Midlothian slumped to a disappointing 1-0 defeat at home to Motherwell as the Edinburgh club head into the international break needing to hit the reset button.
Callum Slattery’s first-half goal proved to be decisive in Gorgie and although the visitors had to see out the game with 10 men following Paul McGinn’s dismissal, the Steelmen were good value for the win that lifts them into second spot, tied with league leaders Celtic on 10 points.
Here are five talking points from a difficult afternoon for the men from Gorgie.
Haring back
Central midfield has been a problem position for Hearts in recent weeks. Beni Baningime is still returning from a long-term lay-off and summer signing Calem Nieuwenhof is carrying a knock, while Andy Halliday and Jorge Grant appear to have slipped down the pecking order in the capital.
Cammy Devlin was partnered by Toby Sibbick in the midfield for Thursday night’s 4-0 humbling defeat away to PAOK in the Europa Conference League in a fixture where the Hearts midfield struggled to get their foot on the ball, and so the return to Peter Haring to the staring line-up against Motherwell was a welcome sight indeed.
The Austrian’s physicality made him well-suited to this contest, and the team looked more robust in the middle as a result. With Alex Cochrane dropping to his natural left-back role, Alex Lowry slotting in at left wing and Yutaro Oda replacing Kenneth Vargas on the right, the starting XI looked better balanced in Gorgie than in Thessaloniki.
There were no square pegs forced into round holes, and the midfield looked more defensively solid as a result – but that came at a cost, too.
Hearts lacking spark
The home side saw plenty of the ball at Tynecastle but looked short of ideas of what to do with it at times, much to the frustration of the home crowd. All too often this season, Hearts have been sluggish in the first half of matches and meandering in possession. The ball can be shifted around the back four a little aimlessly, and supporters’ patience is wearing thin – an understandable reaction, given Steven Naismith promised them free-flowing, attacking football.
Hearts were struggling to get the ball into dangerous areas, much to the chagrin of the home support, and their task became even more difficult when Motherwell took the lead as the game approached the half-hour mark. A neat one-two between Slattery and Blair Spittal sent the former through on goal in acres of space to rifle past Clark and although the goal was initially chopped off for offside, VAR overturned the decision to hand the visitors a well-deserved lead.
This Motherwell side thrive on making life awkward for their opponents, and they only become even more so when they have a lead to defend. Slattery almost added a spectacular second five minutes after his first when the midfielder spotted Zander Clark off his line and attempted to lob the Hearts goalkeeper from just inside the hosts’ half, only to narrowly miss the target.
’Well maintain momentum
Stuart Kettlewell’s side have had to adapt to Kevin van Veen’s departure over the summer but to their credit, the Steelmen haven’t allowed that not inconsiderable setback to affect them all that much. If anything, the team’s form has improved without the talismanic striker; impressive, considering they were one of the Premiership’s most in-form sides after Kettlewell replaced Stevie Hammell as manager in February.
Motherwell had lost just one of their opening eight games in all competitions this term heading into this contest and it wasn’t difficult to see why. The Lanarkshire outfit were relentless when Hearts progressed beyond the halfway line, with two or three players surrounding and harrying the man in possession to great effect, while they carried a threat at the other end with their set-pieces and counter-attacking ability.
A Bevis Mugabe header from a corner on 14 minutes that was tipped over by Clark offered an early reminder of the visitors’ prowess before Slattery handed them the advantage midway through the first half, providing Hearts with a mountain to climb that ultimately proved to be insurmountable.
Changes but no real change
The chorus of boos that met the half-time whistle were a clear indication from fans that something had to change after the break. Naismith clearly agreed, replacing Yutaro Oda and Alex Lowry with Kyosuke Tagawa and Toby Sibbick at the interval and changing the shape to a 3-4-3.
The formation and personnel might have changed, but the result was still the same: despite dominating the ball, Hearts just couldn’t find a way through the Motherwell backline. Things almost went from bad to worse for the home side when Spittal burst into the area with the goal at his mercy, but the midfielder shanked his shot wide of the target.
Hearts began to up the ante as the second half progressed and started to exert some pressure of their own, and they were handed a boost when Paul McGinn’s dismissal for a second yellow card put Motherwell down to 10 men – but they were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage. The afternoon was summed up when Shankland was afforded a sight of goal with five minutes to go, only to aim his shot straight into Kelly's hands.
Clarity required in the capital
With Hearts now out of Europe and an international break on the horizon, it would be little surprise to see Naismith officially named as the club’s manager in the not-so-distant future. The technical director role he has been fulfilling so far this season has been a neat workaround that looks to have kept UEFA off the capital club’s backs, but it is clear that supporters want to know just where the buck stops with their team and who is making the big decisions.
It was Naismith who conducted pre-match media duties before kick-off, it was Naismith who was labelled as the Hearts coach on a team line-up graphic displayed in the stadium, and it was Naismith who spent the entire 90 minutes patrolling the technical area and issuing instructions to his players. He appears to manager in all but name – and a little clarity could go a long way at Tynecastle.
