Attendance 14,601
It must be recognised of course that the fixture
schedule in these opening weeks has been unkind in the
extreme to the Govan side, with visits to arguably the
three most difficult venues in the calendar, namely
Pittodrie, Celtic Park and Tynecastle, yet the blunt
truth is that three away games have yielded not one
solitary goal.
ThE afternoon was all about protests – Hearts’ fans
releasing several hundred black balloons in protest at
the sale of the Gorgie ground and the Ibrox legions
displaying thousands of both Union Flags and the Stars
and Stripes in defiance of the home club’s continual
ban on such emblems. Indeed both flags could be viewed
prominently displayed on both road and rail bridges on
the approach to Tynecastle.
Manager Alex McLeish made three changes from the side
that had lost at Parkhead with Maurice Ross, Chris
Burke and Paulo Vanoli replacing Alan Hutton, Alex Rae
and Shota Arveladze against a home side led by
ex-Ranger Steven Pressley and with former Ibrox
trialist Michael Stewart on the bench.
A hectic end-to-end start ensued from the referee’s
whistle on the tight Tynecastle confines, but the
first real chance arrived in twelve minutes when Craig
Gordon beat out Vanoli’s twenty-yard drive.
Four minutes later at the other end ‘Gers Captain
Stefan Klos was called upon to make a stunning save
from Mark de Vries following a Patrick Kisnorbo flick.
A less than inspiring opening half yielded one more
chance – Dragan Mladenovic’s twenty-yard free-kick
being held by Gordon.
The restart was delayed whilst numerous balloons were
removed from the field of play.
Shota Arveladze was introduced ten minutes into the
second-half, replacing Nacho Novo whose contribution
to the game had been disappointing.
Within twelve minutes the Georgian should have opened
the scoring, somehow heading wide from Burke’s cross
with the entire goal at his mercy.
With time ticking away McLeish made a double
substitution in a last effort to introduce some
inspiration to what was a dreadful Rangers performance
– Steven Thompson and Peter Lovenkrands replacing Dado
Prso and Paulo Vanoli, although in fact the Italian
had been impressive whilst on the park.
Referee Dougie McDonald demonstrated his erratic side
when he allowed the Hearts wall at a Rangers free-kick
to encroach well within the regulation ten yards,
despite Gregory Vignal pacing out the distance, for
which act the Frenchman received a lecture.
Robbie Nielson saved the day for the home side in 77
minutes, heading clear under pressure following a
Burke cross from a Mladenovic pass
Two minutes later at the other end Fernando Ricksen
almost presented Graham Weir with the winner when his
pass went astray, but Klos was equal to the task.
With time running out, a Burke – Ricksen move down the
right opened up the Hearts defence only for Thompson
to slice his effort wide.
If that was a chance, Paul Hartley squandered an even
greater one at the other end, heading over from
Maybury’s cross with the net gaping.
The game ended in uproar when Neilson felled Boumsong
with a forearm smash across the throat, and as
Rangers’ players surrounded the full-back at the final
whistle he was yellow-carded in the tunnel.
Alex McLeish afterwards stressed:
“This was a poor game with few chances. We are still
in the process of rebuilding. We will keep battling
away. We have only played five games.”
Stefan Klos was equally defiant:
“No Surrender” he proclaimed.
HEARTS Gordon; Neilson, Pressley, Webster, Maybury;
Stamp, Kisnorbo (MacFarlane 87), Hartley, Hamill
(McAllister 84); De Vries (Janczyk 62), Weir
UNUSED SUBS Moilanen, Wyness, Berra, Stewart
RANGERS Klos; Ross, Moore, Boumsong, Vignal; Burke,
Ricksen, Mladenovic, Vanoli (Lovenkrands 69); Prso
(Thompson 69), Novo (Arveladze 55)
UNUSED SUBS G. Smith, Davidson, McCormack, Andrews
REFEREE Dougie McDonald