A helicopter hovered over Tynecastle as Hearts were in the midst of a fifth straight defeat – and a sixth loss in seven – and there were some audible jokes.
There was no banner steaming from the aircraft as has been the case in times gone by under Robbie Neilson’s charge. But there were chants for the beleaguered manager to go. And the axe finally fell on Sunday afternoon after the club made “an extremely difficult decision” to part company with their manager. Some context to the latest calamity as St Mirren won in Gorgie for the first time in a decade is the current run hasn’t been this bad since the winter of discontent under Daniel Stendel when they suffered a handful of consecutive losses.
In freefall and with an Edinburgh derby on the horizon this weekend remains a potential landing point to relaunch their campaign. This drama shouldn’t deflect from a superb showing by the Buddies who remain on course for uncharted top-six territory. But there was a no-holds-barred dressing room summit by Hearts players and staff that was still in session more than an hour after the full-time whistle and Stephen Kingsley admitted home truths were delivered.
The defender said: “It’s been coming, that is six of the last seven games we’ve been beaten. We had a wee meeting in the changing room after but to be honest, these things need to change, the penny needs to drop.
“We thought we’d been through that spell, trying to get things sorted for this game and get the win. But it seems it’s the same mistakes again so there’s only so much you can say about it. Everything needs to stay in house in the next couple of days, a couple of things need to be addressed and we need to go and win, nothing else can be accepted next week now and then we’ll push on from there.”
As Hearts surrendered third spot to Aberdeen in the race for European football, there was a toxic feel to the atmosphere at Tynecastle that increased as an afternoon which had started brightly began to implode. A superb Curtis Main strike seven minutes after the restart was closely followed by an Alex Gogic goal as he deflected home Mark O’Hara’s shot.
A red card for Robert Snodgrass was the tin lid on any hope of a fightback and it was left to Kingsley to explain whether it was the coaches or players who led the post-match inquisition.
He said: “A bit of both, initially everyone together and then after a while it was a bit quiet and the players had a meeting ourselves. Hopefully it makes a bit of difference in the coming days when we actually get things said and off our chest. But words are words aren’t they? You can talk all day but at the end of the day things need to change.”
Neilson had shown an ability to reverse the fortunes at his club from adversity in the past. But after being hit by a perfect storm of key men going off the boil as well as on-field leaders being ruled out by long-term injury at such a crucial period of the campaign, his time in Gorgie ran out.
Nervousness had been spreading throughout his squad and at times on Saturday there were defensive unforced errors such as gifting away possession or abdicating responsibilities inside the box. Just as Kilmarnock had done, St Mirren outfought their opposite numbers and made the most of a contest where conditions were ripe for a home support ready to turn on their own side.
Even Kingsley couldn’t fault the fans for venting their fury and said: “We as a collective need to stand up and show ourselves in a better light and really stand up to this challenge that we’re facing just now.”
But he’s adamant a trip to Hibs at the weekend can begin the road to redemption and get the Jambos restored as best of the rest. Kingsley added: “There is absolutely nothing else that will be accepted other than a win.”
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