Hearts routed by Celtic as Vrancken defends approach
Hearts suffered a heavy defeat at Celtic Park, with manager Wouter Vrancken blaming individual errors while pundits and fans questioned his tactics.
Hearts endured a chastening afternoon at Celtic Park, conceding twice inside the opening 10 minutes and four before the 40-minute mark, with a fifth going in before half-time and two more after the break. The result dealt a blow to the Tynecastle club's early-season title ambitions and revived memories of heavy European qualification defeats to Sturm Graz and Benfica at the start of Wouter Vrancken's tenure.
The defeat contrasted sharply with the form that had preceded it: Vrancken's attack-minded style had underpinned a 13-game run featuring just one loss and plenty of goals. Afterwards, the Belgian manager repeatedly pointed to individual errors rather than his own decisions, saying two early set-plays had killed his side's game and that all the goals conceded stemmed from mistakes by players. He urged his squad not to start doubting their own qualities and to learn from the errors before the next fixture.
Pundits were divided on where responsibility lay. Former Tynecastle defender Ryan McGowan said a lot of players went missing and that Vrancken's instructions appeared to be ignored. Former Scotland striker Kris Boyd was more struck by Hearts' approach, arguing that going man-for-man against Celtic invited the demolition that followed. Former Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday said there was no accountability, criticising the set-up for failing to counter Celtic's habit of targeting the front post from set-pieces, and doubted Vrancken would change anything if the game were replayed.
Supporters who got in touch were similarly split. Steve and Bill focused on the manager, calling for greater flexibility and a Plan B and lamenting a defence they described as a shambles, with Bill also citing the absence of Halkett, Spittal and Renaud. Ally, by contrast, argued that individual errors cannot be blamed on the manager given Hearts had more possession, passes and shots. David called the result disgraceful and said it made an average Celtic team look like world beaters.
Image: SNS / BBC Sport
