Craig Levein's work ethic pays off as Hearts win at Hamilton

Ross Callachan, left, celebrates his goal

The 30-year-old may simply have been, as some have claimed, too cerebral for the Scottish game but it is becoming increasingly clear that he did not appear to command the respect of the players, who often seemed to be unsure as to what was being asked of them.

Consequently, results and performances went south and the only surprise was that Cathro’s dismissal did not come sooner.

It is unlikely that anyone will be in doubt as to his role under Craig Levein, who followed an unexpected draw with Aberdeen with his first victory and only their third league success on the road during 2017.

Hearts have gone back to basics and this was a belts-and-braces display of a type rarely, if ever,  witnessed during Cathro’s reign. There would have been few points awarded for artistic merit but the manager will have been content with the three they picked up here.

Kyle Lafferty, whose sixth goal of the campaign proved to be the difference between the teams, revealed that the more prosaic approach adopted by Levein has found favour with the players, who have welcomed the introduction of his no-nonsense regime.

“One thing about the gaffer is that he will take no s**t,” said the Irishman, below. “If anyone isn’t working hard then they will be sat beside him.

“We have got a good, honest squad and we’ll work for whoever is in charge but I think everyone is doing that little bit extra now because we know we have a manager who wants us to work hard. If you’re putting in a shift then you’re going to be playing.

“The gaffer has managed Scotland and done well at Dundee United as well. He has put down his authority quite quickly. How has he done that?

“You look at the size of him and the way he’s built! No, it’s about how he is. He’s built a team that wants to work hard. We have workers and players who can play and go and  damage teams.

“That’s the way we have been doing things up until now. To be honest, the manager hasn’t said that much. It’s been about grafting hard and then the goals will come and the points will come.”

Jamie Walker rediscovered his best form and his quick feet and vision were evident at the opener as he bamboozled Darian MacKinnon and released Michael Smith, whose driven cross was converted by Ross Callachan, the first signing of the second Levein era.

Lafferty, who turned 30 on Saturday, marked the occasion with an expertly-taken penalty kick awarded, to the dismay of the home side, when Esmael Goncalves went down under a challenge by Ionnas Skondras.

One wouldn’t expect Levein’s Hearts teams to surrender two-goal leads, although Rakish Bingham pulled one back before the interval after being set up by David Templeton. Jon McLoughlin made one impressive second-half save to keep out an Ali Crawford free-kick but, although they spent the bulk of the final 45 minutes on the back foot, the visitors were seldom troubled.

Lafferty believes Hearts, in seventh place, are capable of finishing above Aberdeen, Rangers and Hibs. “We’re grinding out results and I think we’ll be up there,” he said. “We’ll get the results we need if we go in front and make it difficult for teams to break us down – like we did here.

“It’s going to be a long, hard season. Teams will take points off each other and, if we keep on going the way we are, we’ll be up there. I’ve come here expecting to be in the top six, the top four, and helping Hearts into Europe.

“Maybe we wouldn’t have won this [earlier in the season]. We had a tough game last week against Aberdeen – who will be right up there in the league again this season – but we defended well and came away with a point.

“At Ibrox, we were put under pressure by Rangers and still got a draw so we’re getting the points where people maybe think we shouldn’t be getting them. It’s a start.”

Hamilton midfielder MacKinnon argued, not unreasonably, that a draw would have been a fairer reflection of the play.

“I thought that the way we played after going 2-0 down, we deserved to take something out of the game,” he said.

“What I will say, though, is that you can’t give a good side like that two goals of a start and expect to get a point; it was a rubbish start from us and the only thing that was good was the response after it.”