I couldn't care less about Celtic VAR row because I'm more angry about embarrassing mess Hearts are in – Ryan Stevenson

Steven Naismith was left raging after seeing two VAR spot-kick calls go against Hearts at Celtic Park.

But I’ll be honest, I couldn’t care less. Right now, I’m just more angry about the state the club has got themselves in. I know this column is starting to feel a bit like groundhog day but I feel I need to trot out the word I’ve used a few times over the last couple of weeks to sum up my feelings that we’re now bottom of the league - ‘embarrassing’.

It’s just not good enough and again is the direct result of the poor decisions that were taken over the summer when it came to recruitment. I’ve had a few folk take a pop at me since I started voicing my criticism this season, accusing me of trying to get Naisy the sack. But nothing could be further from the truth - mostly because I don’t think binning the manager will change anything.

The new boss will still have to work with the same squad who are entirely reliant on one man - Lawrence Shankland - scoring the goals to get them out of trouble. We only have to go back to 2020 to see what happens when a bad start is allowed to spiral out of control.

But I’m not actually worried about relegation. As bad as this start has been, Hearts should still have enough about them to get up the table and into the top six come May. What’s more concerning is the aim of finishing third.

With Aberdeen showing no signs of slowing under Jimmy Thelin, the odds of us reining in the Dons are starting to look remote now they have a 14-point head start.

That’s why I’m more interested in what happens in Paisley next weekend than events at Parkhead on Saturday past. I always felt that playing against the Old Firm was a free hit. No-one ever expects you to get a result when you go to Celtic Park and