Celtic hammer Hearts 7-1 as Vrancken stands firm on tactics after Park rout
Celtic ran riot at Celtic Park on Sunday, thrashing Heart of Midlothian 7-1 to move four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, according to match reporting from 18 October. The magnitude of the defeat has thrust Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken's tactics into the spotlight, with pundits and supporters questioning whether the Belgian's attack-minded philosophy is fit for purpose against the champions.
Vrancken: "Individual mistakes" cost us
Hearts were two goals down inside 10 minutes, four adrift inside 40 and five behind before the break, with two further goals conceded after the restart. Vrancken, appointed in the summer, spoke repeatedly of costly individual errors rather than reflecting on his own decisions.
"We made a few individual mistakes," he told BBC Sport Scotland. "Two set-plays killed our game at the start. All of their goals were individual mistakes and then it's difficult to win a game.
"In the set-play moments, you have to be on top of your toes, you have to be on front foot to attack the ball. Against individual mistakes, you can't do too much.
"Only thing that cannot happen is that everybody starts doubting now in his own qualities. Also, when you are one of the guys that made a mistake, just learn from it.
"After Monday, it has to be gone because there's another game to come."
"I've never seen defending like it"
Former Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday, reflecting on the rout, asked pointedly: "If Wouter Vrancken was given the opportunity to play this game again, would he change anything?" His suspicion is that the Belgian coach would not.
Former Tynecastle defender Ryan McGowan suggested "a lot of players went missing" and that whatever instructions Vrancken gave "went completely out their ears".
Former Scotland striker Kris Boyd was more astonished by Hearts' approach at a venue where they had won last autumn. "I've never seen defending like that in all my life," he said on Sky Sports. "Hearts are still trying to go toe-to-toe with Celtic on 89 minutes. You've got to pay respect to Celtic. If you go man-for-man, they will demolish you and that's exactly what happened there."
Halliday added: "There was no accountability. He was talking about players' errors, rather than his own errors, which were pretty glaring for me. Anyone who's watched Celtic this year will know they target the front post from set-pieces, but Hearts' set up didn't try to negate that. I've praised Vrancken to the hilt - and I still think they'll finish in the top three - but my worry is if he had the opportunity to play that game again, I don't think he'd do anything differently and what he said just proved that."
Fans vent frustration
The reaction from the Hearts support was brutal. Steve wrote: "My concern is the Hearts manager never seems to change his formation when things are not working out. He needs to be flexible at times, or we'll see these scorelines a lot with bigger teams." Ted said: "Three minutes away from the title in May? Miles off it today." Bill described the performance as "Relegation material" and added: "This result has been coming for a while now. Manager has no Plan B. Our defence is a shambles. Sorely missing Halkett, Spittal and Renaud."
Ally offered a counter-view: "If the tactics were wrong, Hearts wouldn't have had more of the ball, more passes, more shots etc. Individual errors cannot be the manager's fault." David added: "That's an absolutely disgraceful result for Hearts. Celtic had 10 efforts on target and scored seven… Made an average Celtic team look like world beaters."
Context: a title challenge in tatters
Hearts had arrived in Glasgow as the division's top goalscorers and with the chance to move two points behind the leaders, after a goal-laden run of 13 games with just one defeat under Vrancken. Instead, their defensive frailties were exposed as the Belgian's wide-open, attack-minded side were torn apart - echoes of the heavy European qualification defeats by Sturm Graz and Benfica in the opening games of his tenure.
According to the 18 October match report, Hearts produced 20 shots despite the scoreline, while Celtic's Nygren - who had registered four goals and three assists in eight Premiership appearances this season before the game - rounded off the scoring in the 83rd minute after being fed by substitute Kasper Hogh, prompting another airing of the Magnificent Seven theme tune. Duran had earlier piled on the agony with a goal four minutes after the restart.