Philippe Clement must have been the most relieved man in Edinburgh last Sunday. Because make no mistake, the beleaguered Belgian dodged a massive bullet at Tynecastle.
And that was mostly down to the fact Hearts were firing blanks on a day when they created more than enough opportunities to gun down Clement’s under-pressure Rangers. It was one of those afternoons when Neil Critchely’s team must have trudged back to the dressing room at full-time not just frustrated but furious with themselves over the fact they dominated yet ended up with nothing.
Elton Kabangu could have scored five himself. But with an inspired Jack Butland in goal, it was Gers who walked off with the win after Hearts conspired to shoot themselves in the foot, especially with those two Jamie McCart OGs. But as angry as Hearts will be with themselves, I’m not sure many punters will take issue with the way Critch set his side up or the manner of his players’ performance.
They did everything you’d expect of them against Rangers apart from applying that final touch. Listen scoring goals has been Hearts’ biggest issue all season but that’s mainly been down to a lack of creativity in the final third.
But you simply can’t point that finger at last weekend’s display as the Gorgie men racked up chance after chance. On another day, they’d have buried a couple more than the one goal they did get through Michael Steinwender and perhaps brought that long five-year wait for a win over Gers to an end.
The 3-1 victory was a major boost to Clement as he looks to cling to his job - but it doesn’t have to spell disaster for Critchley despite plunging his team back down to ninth. The Premiership is tighter than two coats of paint in that mid-table section, with just 11
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