Michael Smith has taken aim at his Hearts teammates after they were battered by Kilmarnock at the weekend.
Three goals inside 16 minutes had the Jambos trying to make up a three-goal deficit. They couldn’t though and were lucky not to lose by more.
Hearts were well beaten by Killie. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Speaking to the Scottish Daily Mail, (sport pullout, page six, 25/11/19), Smith claims he knew from the off that some of his teammates weren’t ‘at the races.’
“To say the start killed us is an understatement,” said Smith. ‘We came here with a game plan but didn’t execute it on the pitch. In the first 16 minutes, we were wide open and made some stupid decisions. And it cost us. That was the game dead and buried there.
“I think maybe it was a mentality problem. We shouldn’t have lacked confidence as we did well against St Mirren. We should have been on a high. Maybe we thought it would be easier than it was.
Smith has lamented Hearts’ Kilmarnock woes. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
“It has always been tough when I’ve been here before. It was always going to be a tough day, but it was really poor for us. “Every defeat is down to the players. It is solely on us. We were very poor right from the off. I could sense we just weren’t at the races.”
Hearts are in a relegation scrap
After this result, Hearts have been left joint-bottom, with goal difference the only thing keeping them off the Premiership basement. There’s a worrying stat creeping in too.
A worrying trend. (photo by Alan Rennie/Action Plus via Getty Images)
They have gained the same amount of points over 13 games as the 2013/14 side that were relegated from the Premiership. It’s a damning stat that shows how poor Hearts have been this term.
The Jambos are now five weeks post-Levein and a new boss doesn’t seem any closer. 11 points from 13 games is relegation form and Hearts will need to face up to the fact they’re in a relegation scrap now.
It’s self-inflicted errors that are killing the Jambos and Smith seems to sense that.