Speculation, rumour and conjecture is part and parcel of football. “People say I’m moving to Spain, I don’t even like Spain,” said Craig Levein after Hearts’ defeat to old foes Hibernian in a crackling Edinburgh derby on Saturday.
As the maroon masses called for more heads than Henry VIII, they also pointed out another place Levein could go to that’s not necessarily in the travel agent’s brochure. “Levein, get tae ****,” roared one brassed off Jambo in the direction of the dugout. Apparently it’s quite nice at this time of the year.
So too is Leith. Even on a dour day down Gorgie way, the metaphorical sunshine must have accompanied the Hibs hordes back to the other side of Auld Reekie after this dogged victory which was illuminated by industry, invention, great resolve and canny tactical nous.
Daryl Horgan’s brace turned the match on its head but this was a true team effort. They were prepared to take a few sair ones for the cause too, as illustrated by team captain David Gray who took a right old clatter on the head as half-time loomed but ploughed on until being substituted during the second period.
“He told me at the end of the game he’d been sick,” said Gray’s team-mate Paul Hanlon. “He was feeling a bit groggy as he took a knock on the side of his neck at the end of the first half. He was a bit shaky at half-time and again at the start of the second half. But, the fact he didn’t want to come off just sums up his character.
“There was no way he was going to come off easily. When you have a sore head then you got a load of headers coming your way. That’s what happened to him.”
By the time Gray departed, Hibs were already 2-1 up and on their way to a first win at Tynecastle since 2013.
Hearts had made the kind of early charge that could have featured pike staffs and a co-ordinated battle cry but despite falling behind to a Peter Haring header, Paul Heckingbottom swiftly recognised the issues and moved his pieces in the tactical game of chess.
He pushed Stephane Omeonga into a more advanced role, to give more options playing out from the back, while tweaking the roles of Florian Kamberi and Marc McNulty in the attack.
The results of this shift reaped considerable rewards as Hibernian got back on level terms just a few minutes after falling behind.
“If the manager does have to make a change then we are all ready for it,” added Hanlon. “It is things we work on in training. It is not off the cuff and they are not things that will spook us.” It certainly gave Hearts the heebie-jeebies though as Hibs went on to forge a lead through Horgan’s brilliantly executed second goal on 56 minutes.
Since his appointment the day before St Valentine’s, Heckingbottom and Hibs continue to enjoy the kind of relationship that would have Cupid reasonably satisfied with the aim of his arrows.
Unbeaten in eight leagues game, Hibs have amassed 20 points out of a possible 24 while overhauling a 13-point deficit between them and their city rivals and leaping over Hearts into fifth place. Europe is still in their sights too. “We’ve put ourselves in this position and now have to make the most of it,” said Hanlon. “If you go back to just before the manager came in everybody had written us off for making the top six. It was always going to be a big ask so to show the form we’ve done is great.
“We now have to try and keep it going and see where we finish. It has been a massive turnaround. It is exciting and it is what you want at this stage of the season. I’ve had some great derby experiences but this is right up there.”
Together with Darren McGregor, Hanlon managed to stifle the threat of burly, bustling Uche Ikpeaza. At times, you half expected them to employ guy ropes and tranquilizers to stop his advances and the skirmishes, struggles, wrestlings and rollings certainly got tempers flaring.
“You can see exactly what he is, he is big, strong and powerful,” said Hanlon. “I thought myself and Darren worked well against him and that’s what you have to do as a partnership.
“I could go in the gym all I want but I will never be his size. I think he must be 20 kilos heavier than me so you can’t get into situations where he can out muscle you. It’s a case of getting to the ball first and not getting pinned. I thought we handled the threat well.”
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