28th October 2017 Hearts v Rangers 1-3

Another game at Murrayfield and this time against Rangers. I find Rangers the unacceptable face of Scottish football. They went into administration some years ago and could not be saved and were therefore liquidated. A new club was formed and the SFA, in their wisdom, decided to start them of in League Two. After winning leagues 1 & 2 they came up against Hearts in the 2014/5 Championship and were unable to win that league due to Hearts superb form. They were promoted to the SPL the following season and both the the SFA and their deluded fans think they are the same team that previously cheated to dominate Scottish football. Sorry, they are not as all previous honours were won by a different club ! Their fans continue to follow the traditions of the previous side and chant their hymns of hate at most matches. This week they sacked their Portuguese manager, Pedro Caixinha. after some poor results. Graeme Mutry will be in charge for this game. With the game being at Murrayfield Hearts have given Rangers 14,100 tickets. I would not like to be a bar owner near the stadium with these fans coming to Edinburgh.

I walked down towards Haymarket to get to the game. As I got to the West Approach Road  a car tooted at me. It turned out to be Alex on his way to the QOS game and we had a text discussion during the afternoon. Hearts made three changes from the last game with Connor Randall, Euan Henderson and Jamie Brandon dropping out to be replaced by Isma, Lewis Moore and Harry Cochrane.

The game started with Hearts defending well with Christophe Berra and John Souttar looking good in the centre. Rangers were attacking early on but, although Hearts looked a bit weak at fullback, no clear chances were made. However after the half hour mark Hearts won a free kick thirty yards out after Isma was brought down. Kyle Lafferty hit what must have been the best goal of his career by hammering the ball into the top corner of the Rangers net over the top of the defensive ball. A couple of minutes later Ross Callachan missed a great chance to put Hearts two up when from a through ball he managed to shoot against Rangers keeper Foderingham when it seemed easier to score. Just before halftime Rangers equalised when Kenny Miller collected a through ball and shot as Souttar challenged him. The shot deflected of Souttar into the air and over Jon McLaughlin in the Hearts goal.

Early in the second half half I felt Hearts chances of winning the game disappeared when Jamie Walker had to go of injured with what looked like a pulled hamstring. He chased back to cover when Rafal Grezlak was caught out of position and pulled up after the ball was cleared. Walker was not having his best game but was the only player in the Hearts team who I thought had that extra little bit of class to create something different. After sixty-five minutes Rangers went ahead when Miller got between Berra and Souttar to head home a cross from the right. Things got worse ten minutes later when Miller sent Windass free down the wing. Grezlack should have forced him outside and towards the byeline but he was allowed to cut inside and shot home at the near post.

I felt Hearts were outmuscled in the second half with players like Moore and Cochrane bullied in midfield by the Rangers players. They will be good players in the future but cannot as yet match the physical presence of seasoned professionals. The crowd was announced as 32852 which was the highest Hearts home league attendance since 1975. However the game was spoiled by the lack of police or stewards taking action against the Rangers fans for their singing of what could only be classed as sectarian songs. If Hearts fans had sung similar tunes in Glasgow I am sure that arrests would have been made.

After the game I walked towards Westfield Road and met Stuart who I had not seem for some time. He had broken his ankle a few months ago but seems to be recovering although still walking with a stick. I wandered up to Gorgie Road and then home in time to watch Bournemouth v Chelsea.  

Teams

Hearts: McLaughlin, M.Smith, Berra, Souttar, Grzelak, Moore, Cochrane, Callachan, Walker, Isma, Lafferty.

Subs: Milinkovic, Nowak, Stockton.

Rangers: Foderingham, Tavernier, McCrorie, Wilson, John, Jack, Holt, Candeias, Windass, Miller, Morelos. 

Subs: Herrera, Hardie, Kranjcar.