Andy Halliday explains his 'overwhelming anger' after harsh words in Hearts dressing room

He also tends to impart a lot of sense within that honesty. So, when discussing his club’s recent form, Halliday’s opinions are valid, justified and considered despite his unmissable anger.

The last seven games have brought Hearts only one win inside 90 minutes. Cheap goals, hesitant defending and a lack of attacking panache are causing concern not just for Halliday. It is no coincidence that Craig Halkett’s absence from central defence began seven games ago.

The most recent reverse came on Saturday at St Johnstone. The hosts were allowed to play their way easily through Hearts’ rearguard for Ali Crawford to score inside the opening minute. After Nathaniel Atkinson’s quick equaliser, Jamie McCart’s rose unchallenged to head the winner early in the second half.

The Edinburgh club are third in the cinch Premiership with a nine-point advantage over those sitting joint-fourth – Hibs, Dundee United and Motherwell. It remains a comfortable position the envy of everyone below.

However, after three straight league defeats – the last two to clubs bottom of the table – frustration is building. Speaking exclusively to the Evening News, Halliday delivered a brutally truthful assessment of what is going wrong and what must happen to address the situation.

“I’m overwhelmed with anger. It’s not even just frustration, it’s anger,” he said in reference to the St Johnstone match. “We set up with a gameplan all week because we knew St Johnstone’s strengths were trying to turn us in behind and use set-pieces. Yet we concede two horrendous goals.

“The second goal is horrendous. It’s a 40-yard wide free-kick and somebody has six yards of space to just nod it in the far corner. That probably summed up the day.

“We are coming to tough venues