Ryan Stevenson has heaped scorn on misfiring Hearts forward Kenneth Vargas in a brutal assessment of the Costa Rican.
The Jambos are rock bottom of the Premiership with just one win after 11 games and head to St Johnstone on Saturday afternoon in search of three points.
A large part in why Hearts have been so poor this season has been the lack of goals from the players who should be providing the goods in attack.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 11 |  HibernianHibernian | 10 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 15 | -6 | 7 |
| 12 |  Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian | 11 | 1 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 18 | -6 | 6 |
Lawrence Shankland looks like a completely different player for all the wrong reasons this season after an unbelievable 2023/24 in front of goal.
Staggeringly, the Scotland striker has netted just once in 15 appearances for Hearts and his lack of productivity is a major concern.
Stevenson slams Kenneth Vargas Hearts celebration
But he is not the only one. Vargas has actually played one more game than Shankland this season yet only has one goal to show for it.
That was against St Mirren in Neil Critchley’s first game as Hearts boss and Vargas wheeled away to celebrate by cupping his ears to the fans.
And it’s safe to say that made Stevenson chuckle. Writing in his weekly Daily Record column, the Hearts hero called Vargas out for the celebration and said the forward should already be on at least 10 goals.
Stevenson remarked: “I had to laugh at Kenneth Vargas cupping his ear after scoring against St Mirren. Mate, it’s your first goal of the season and it’s October, you’re hardly silencing the doubters.
“He should be hitting double figures and if he’s copping flak at that point then he’s entitled to celebrate how he likes.”
Lawrence Shankland ‘seriously needs help’
Stevenson went into more depth about the troubles Shankland is experiencing in front of goal and said he feels for the 29-year-old.
He said: “As for the other end of the pitch? You can’t ignore the elephant in the room. It’s another game without a goal for Lawrence Shankland and people are asking, “When does it become a concern?”
“The answer is now. Listen, I’m sure Lawrence is sick of picking up his Record and seeing me bang on about him every week.
“Last season it was because it was so good, this time it’s because he is not scoring. But when you go from a 33-goal season to notching just once before November, it is an issue.
“I feel for him. All strikers go through tough spells when it’s not going for them and it’s almost like he’s trying too hard. But he seriously needs help.”