October 21st 2000
Scottish Premier League
Attendance: 14,525
Scorers:
Hibernian: Paatelainen (3), Zitelli, O'Neil, Latapy.
Hearts: Kirk, Cameron.
This is a copy of a report of the game as it appeared in the Scotsman on Monday 21st October 2000
The black curtains are drawn tight around Gorgie and will be for a while yet. The problem with the inevitable Tynecastle inquest into yesterday’s Hearts disaster is that local rivalry will mean they will be unable to admit the truth; that their team came up against an exhilarating Hibs side in sublime form.
Hibs gave Hearts a goal start, just for fun, and proceeded to dish out a lesson in incisive attacking football. Oh, and a few pointers in the art of finishing. Content with two goals in the first half, they accumulated another four in the second. Mixu Paatelainen completed a hat-trick and Hibs called it a day at six, although you suspect they could have had a few more if they fancied it.
With Rangers at the moment appearing incapable of sustaining the chase of Celtic, Hibs duly kept Martin O’Neill’s team within sight at the top of the SPL. Alex McLeish named the same side as had started against Rangers here last weekend, David Zitelli shaking off the hamstring twinge that had resulted in his substitution after scoring the winner. In theory Hearts also had a positive aspect about them, with a three-man attack of Gordon Durie, Andy Kirk and Juanjo.
In the event Hearts’ plan seemed to be to concentrate most of their attacking endeavours into the opening five minutes. Juanjo had already seen a quick shot saved by Nick Colgan and Gordon Durie had hurled a couple of dangerous long throws at the gargantuan Kevin James before Hearts grabbed a fifth minute goal.
Hibs were still choreographing their defence when Durie, thinking quickly, played a pass out to Steve Fulton on the left. His cross was treated with disdain by the Hibs defenders and flicked in with grateful alacrity by Andy Kirk.
The setback was a test of Hibs’ true class. They responded perfectly, indicative of a gulf between the teams that is about more than talent, but also encompasses morale and attitude.
Alumni from both clubs had distinguished themselves over the weekend. Gary Naysmith set up Everton’s winning goal at St James’s Park on Saturday, and Kenny Miller scored an excellent goal for Rangers in Perth. Hearts though still look a side grievously wounded by the gaps in the defence left by the illustrious departures. Hibs have shrugged off the loss of Miller and reshaped their attack competently.
Hibs quickly exerted their dominance in terms of possession but at first were slow to create chances.
After 22 minutes Paatelainen seized on the first opportunity, latching on to an angled pass from Russell Latapy and attempting a devious chip that Antti Niemi did well to tip over.
Hibs had the ball in the net from the resulting corner, but Hugh Dallas, back officiating at a proper football match after slumming it at the midweek Barcelona v AC Milan tie in the Champions League, spotted some pushing from Paatelainen and awarded the free-kick.
Hibs remained positive and confident, even when Stuart Lovell and Latapy dragged shots wide when in excellent scoring positions. Hearts’ opportunities were restricted to an opportunistic shot from Durie after a slip from Gary Smith.
Otherwise the traffic was one-way. Hibs were rewarded with an equaliser three minutes before half-time. Lovell managed a flick at Latapy’s cross, the ball bounced off Steven Pressley and fell invitingly for Paatelainen to drive it into the roof of the net from seven yards.
Within a couple of minutes Hibs had the lead, again profiting from Hearts’ inability to cope with a well-directed cross. Zitelli swung a corner from the right into the Hearts six yard box. Pressley’s attempted clearance was headed back down by Ulrik Laursen, and Paatelainen showed that age hasn’t affected his predatory instincts by poking the ball over the line from three feet. Paatelainen celebrated with an elephantine somersault that must have caused hefty subsidence in the west stand.
Jim Jefferies’ already less-than-placid demeanour took on a stormy aspect as his players hurried past him to the dressing-room. Whatever he said at the interval had little immediate effect. Within seven minutes of the restart, Hibs had a third.
The goal was initiated by some neat and incisive midfield play from John O’Neil, Laursen and Latapy, switching possession swiftly on the left. Latapy played a precise through ball behind Pressley, and Zitelli, timing his run, directed it beneath the onrushing Niemi.
Jefferies sent on Gary McSwegan and Darren Jackson, but by now Hibs were hitting a purple patch. John O’Neil demonstrated the confidence coursing through the side, with a series of deft flicks, back-heels and neat cross-passes, greeted with exultant "olés" from the Hibs supporters.
O’Neil set up the fourth with another sublime cross. Latapy and Hugh Dallas played a neat one-two in midfield before Latapy directed a sweet pass out to O’Neil on the right. Paatelainen defied his ample poundage to rush into the middle where he met the cross with graceless effectiveness to secure the hat-trick.
"We want seven," sang the Hibs fans of ‘73 vintage. Hearts were looking ragged enough to make it a likely prospect. Zitelli, breaking clear down the right, looked certain to score, only to see Niemi foil him with a brave save.
Mere postponement of the inevitable. O’Neil, looking more Argentinian every minute, smacked in the fifth, exploiting another Hearts failure to clear a corner, sidestepping a challenge and driving his shot into the roof of the net.
Hearts were dead and waiting to be buried. Latapy exchanged one-twos with Paatelainen and volleyed home number six. The game had taken on the nature of cruel, unusual punishment.
The fans’ demands for seven were not met. Instead, Hearts were allowed a late consolation, well-taken by Colin Cameron. 6-2 seems to be the fashionable derby scoreline this season, although for Hearts, it was a very small mercy indeed.
The Teams:
Hibernian: Colgan, Lauresen, G Smith, Fenwick, Lovell, Sauzee, Jack (Andrews), J O’Neil, Latapy, Zitelli, Paatelainen.
Hearts: Niemi, Flogel, Pressley, James, Fulton, Petric, Cameron, Tomascheck, Kirk, Durie, Juanjo.
WOW, 6-2, 6-2, 6 f**king 2! I've just got to keep repeating it. What a game, unbelievable.
What can I say, Hibs were magnificent! After a slow start, which allowed Hearts to get their consolation goal in first, Hibs just gradually stepped up the pressure. They had a goal chalked off midway through the first half - I still don't know why? - and then the game exploded just before halftime.
After 43 minutes, Mixu got the all important equaliser and unbelievably he got another one before halftime. Easter Road errupted and the meagre Hearts support could tell the writing was on the wall.
Zitelli then got his third goal in three games and it was obvious that Hibs were going to win, it was just a matter of how many they were going to score. The Hibs fans were already shouting for seven and thankfully the players seemed to respond and go for it.
Mixu got his hatrick (who was the last player to score a hatrick in the Derby?) with 15 minutes to go and the Hearts supporters left the Hibs fans to enjoy their party.
The fans watched in amazement as it went from 4-1 to 5-1 thanks to John O'neil, and then on to 6-1 when Russell Latapy scored at the back post.
The only (slight) downer was Cameron scoring (in what may be his last game for Hearts) in the final minute.
The team then left the pitch to a standing ovation and the fans left singing.
Cheer up Jim Jeffries . . .
Edinburgh experienced contrasting bouts of grief and elation yesterday evening. A 6-2 scoreline in a local derby tends to have that effect.
The parties raged on in the east; in the west, they were looking for scapegoats. Before Hearts had even suffered their mauling at the hands of a stylish and ruthless Hibs team, a clutch of supporters wielded a banner suggesting "Robinson Must Go". Perhaps a more likely victim of this humbling defeat may be Jim Jefferies.
Trying to discern Jefferies’ mood from his facial expression has always been a futile exercise. In victory or defeat, the Hearts manager has never been in any danger of being mistaken for a ray of sunshine. So yesterday, the day the roof fell in, you wondered just how those lugubrious features could manage to register these titanic levels of disappointment.
He didn’t disappoint, bearing the despondent aspect of a man who could hire himself out as a mood-setter for funerals. Jefferies dismissed newspaper suggestions that he was in imminent danger of the sack and reports that he had an untenable relationship with Hearts’ chief executive, Chris Robinson.
"We have a working relationship," Jefferies said in tones that didn’t really conjure images of the two men sharing a cheery jar at the end of the working day. "OK, I don’t agree with everything Chris does and he doesn’t agree with everything I do, but that happens; we still have a working relationship."
Jefferies acknowledged that this defeat had been his worst experience as a manager. Objective observers might feel he was entitled to unload some of the blame on a Hearts administration that has been slow to offer him much in the way of team-strengthening resources.
Season after season of seeing his best players graduating from the youth ranks, excelling in the first team and then sold, like fattened cattle, to Rangers or Everton, have taken their toll on Jefferies’ reserves of optimism, but he’s a manager who rarely goes in search of excuses.
"No other club in the SPL has lost the numbers of quality players we have in the last couple of seasons," he said. "It’s not easy to lose good players, and try to replace them every year, but that wasn’t the problem today. We had players out there, quite a few players, who couldn’t match Hibs for passion. I don’t think they have shown the sort of passion and commitment you need in a derby."
Jefferies lamented his team’s inability to maintain a positive start, identifying their inclination to defend too deeply as being at the root of their problems. "The scoreline certainly didn’t flatter Hibs. Poor defending in the second half cost us goals, but we caused ourselves problems in the first half by not getting forward enough."
By marked contrast, the Hibs manager celebrated a weekend double for the clan McLeish in the Scottish capital. One of the football world’s cautious souls, Alex McLeish wasn’t ready to start scouting out next season’s prospective Champions League opponents just yet. In fact, he seemed determined to play down the significance of his achievement.
"I still think that Rangers and Celtic will be too strong over the marathon," he said, in expectation-dampening mood. "But if we take care of the home games, as top teams have to do, then I think we have as good a chance as anybody of finishing in the top three."
Hibs’ main obstacle to maintaining their position is their habitual cringe as soon as they set foot in Ibrox or Celtic Park. "One of the mysteries of life," was McLeish’s explanation for Hibs’ inability to reproduce their scintillating home form in away fixtures.
Mcleish has two years left on his contract and isn’t rushing into any extension, although he did go as far as saying that he is happy at Easter Road. He isn’t getting carried away with a superb start to the season.
McLeish, rather than glowing in triumph, was still a little disgruntled at Hearts’ late consolation goal, but that’s his perfectionist streak.
"The spirit’s good, the football is good and we’ve got some very players," he said, exercising his understatement mode. "John O’Neil showed what a real player he is, great with both feet and he has fantastic guile. But every team needs a balance and Mixu Paatelainen has given that since he came to the club.
His No9, Paatelainen, was a little more fulsome in his delight, admitting that it had been one of the most satisfying games of a long career. He had played better he conceded, but couldn’t really have any problem with a game in which he had scored three times. His last hat-trick had been for Finland, against San Marino, who are probably a (marginally) worse side than Hearts.
As to Hibs’s long-term prospects of remaining as high in the SPL, he matched his manager’s caution. "We have to wait and see. So far we have been magnificent and we can maybe keep it up for a couple more weeks. After that, well there’s a long tough winter ahead. Everybody will be needed."
Paatelainen attempted to console his Finnish chum Antii Niemi as the players were walking off. The goalkeeper who had let in six wasn’t exactly receptive. "I spoke to Antii after the game," Paatelainen said. "He asked me how many I scored, I said three and he said something in Finnish, which I won’t repeat."
You can bet Jim Jefferies could have provided a verbatim translation.
"WE want seven" was the chant thundering down from the Easter Road stands as jubilant Hibs fans celebrated a stunning derby demolition of arch rivals Hearts.
But to be frank it could have been anything - as Jim Jefferies, a player as Hearts were taken apart on New Year’s Day 27 years ago, honestly admitted, still shell-shocked at seeing today’s Tynecastle stars suffer a 6-2 hammering.
"Unbelievable," was how hat-trick hero Mixu Paatelainen, the first Hibs’ player to score three in a derby since Pat Quinn in the 4-1 win over Hearts in 1967, described the preceding 90 minutes.
And Jefferies wasn’t going to argue with the big Finn as he listed his side’s shortcomings in a match which leaves them trailing their Capital foes by a massive 13 points with only 12 matches of the season gone.
How the pendulum has swung since Alex McLeish took control of Hibs, derby days once dreaded by the Easter Road support now greeted with eager anticipation with just one defeat in seven matches.
Having suffered so much during the past decade at the hands of Hearts you can hardly grudge them the wild celebrations which greeted the final blast of referee Hugh Dallas’ whistle.
Any derby win is a great win but to score six was just, well, unbelievable, particularly as a slow start by Hibs was punished by a strike from Hearts striker Andy Kirk.
Even with the comfort of that lead, however, Jefferies admitted he wasn’t happy, as he watched Hibs get into their stride. McLeish insisted that despite that early set-back his was the better team as the half wore on, the game turning in the space of two minutes as Mixu Paatelainen, earlier denied a goal for a push on Steven Pressley, struck twice from close-range.
Those goals, McLeish believed, gave Hibs the platform for the second 45 minutes and so it proved, not so much solid foundations but the launch pad for blast-off as the Easter Road side moved on to a different planet from their near neighbours.
With Russell Latapy and John O’Neil again pulling the strings in midfield the Hearts mini-revival came to a spectacular end, David Zitelli linking with that pair to cleverly beat the offside trap to make it three goals in three starts.
Latapy, whose languid style belied his contribution to the game, sprayed another imaginative pass out wide for O’Neil to fire in a punishing cross which allowed Paatelainen to claim his hat-trick.
And O’Neil broke his own duck, lashing in No.5 before Latapy completed the rout, exchanging a brisk one-two with Paatelainen before crashing a shot beyond Anti Niemi.
Those goals reduced Colin Cameron’s late strike for Hearts to a mere statistic.
Only six then, but it could have been many, many more. Take Paatelainen’s disallowed ‘goal’, a brilliant fingertip save from Niemi denying his countryman, Latapy put through three times and failing to find the target, the Hearts goalkeeper beating aside an angled drive from Zitelli and another from Stuart Lovell - all of which could easily have beaten a lesser ’keeper.
Nevertheless, McLeish was keen to keep his players’ feet on the ground and anxious not to gloat at Hearts’ misery.
McLeish admitted that one or two of his players were out on their feet by the final whistle but he was loath to make any substitutions other than an enforced change when Mathias Jack limped off with a suspected broken toe before the interval, his place being taken by little Lyndon Andrews, another whose diminutive form belies his ability and strength.
He said: "I wanted the 11 who started the second-half to be there at the end to take the applause they deserved."
And McLeish agreed with those who witnessed a pulsating match that Hibs had played the sort of champagne football which was rewarded not only by the final result but by a tightening of their grip on second place in the SPL table - now seven points ahead of champions, Rangers.
He said: "That was as good as Hibs have played under me. We made a lot of chances, scored a few and one or two went begging."
But McLeish, as honest and frank as Jefferies had been about his team, admitted Hibs could well have gone two behind when a poor throw out from Nick Colgan put Gary Smith in trouble, the defender being robbed by Gordon Durie who saw the Irish keeper redeem himself with a fine save.
"Nick earned his corn with a good stop but these are things that can be turning points in games," said McLeish. "Even if we had come in 1-0 down at half-time I still felt we were the better team.
Six wins out of six at home, allied to just one defeat in 12 matches have turned many towards believing that Hibs can mount a serious challenge to the Old Firm this season.
But as in weeks past, McLeish refused to divert from his stance that Rangers and Celtic remain favourites for the title.
He may be trying to prevent the heady atmosphere which has engulfed Easter Road this season from spilling over, but as the weeks go by it is becoming harder and harder for him.
Big names with little money being spent in transfer fees has become McLeish’s trademark, the contribution to the cause made by the likes of Franck Sauzee and Latapy already well known while David Zitelli, John O’Neil and Ulrik Laursen have added an extra dimension - and don’t forget the likes of Gary Smith and Paul Fenwick, signings which might have been questioned when they were made but players who have quickly established themselves as every bit as important as the others.
Paatelainen is one of the few players who took to the field last night who actually cost Hibs money, the £75,000 McLeish paid to Wolves to secure his signature proving to be one of the greatest bargains ever.
It was the big Finn’s arrival two years ago which proved the catalyst for Hibs’ romp to the First Division title. His goals last season proved invaluable and already this season he’s found the net seven times, answering those who look at his age and powerful build and question his inclusion.
But McLeish, a former team-mate of the striker at Pittodrie, knows Paatelainen’s worth saying: "Mixu has been a great buy for the club.
"He puts himself about within the laws of the game, he’s a big player, robust, strong and it was great to see him get those three goals.
"He normally gets six or seven in a season and he is well on course for a much bigger tally this season. He’s a man playing at his peak. He knows his strengths and weaknesses."
SIMPLY shocking or simply majestic. The agony and the ecstasy of the Edinburgh derby left Hibs supporters marooned on an island of dreams today - and Hearts fans green with envy.
"I think," said Gavin McLean, a Hibs fan from Leith, "that a few beers are called for."
After a stunning 6-2 win over their oldest rivals, those Hibs fans who didn’t follow McLean into the pubs around Easter Road last night were simply drunk on adrenaline.
Their Hearts counterparts? Well, they were simply punch-drunk.
"The team doesn’t believe it can beat Hibs now," said Valerie Mentiplay, a Hearts supporter from East Craigs. "There is no fight on show in the derbies any more. Some of the players need to have a good look at themselves."
As the PA system blasted out U2’s ‘Beautiful Day’, the visiting Hearts fans who had bravely stayed to the end of the rout were left singing the blues. "It was a simply shocking display," said Andrew Traynor from Gilmerton. "We lacked penetration and direction. Something has to be sorted out at the club."
Gorgie man Lindsay Young added: "We began well but appeared to sit back, then got pushed back. We just don’t seem to be able to handle Hibs in the last few games."
Years of Hearts domination of the Capital derby seem a distant memory now for fans on both sides of the football divide.
And, as the 6-2 win joined the famous 7-0 win in 1973 in Hibs legend, the jokes had already started.
"Cheer up Jim Jefferies, you were lucky," said Brian Henderson, from Marchmont, recalling the Hearts manager’s role in the 1970s drubbing.
"Are you watching Kenny Miller?" added Liam Sutherland, from Bruntsfield.
Rangers striker Miller is history now, though, according to Iain Gray from Restalrig.
"It was a fantastic performance," he said, "and the board should now break the bank to get Alex McLeish and Russell Latapy on long-term deals. John O’Neil was outstanding, and he should be in the next Scotland squad."
Hibs diehard Joe Vetesse, from Liberton, added: "That’s the best I’ve ever seen Hibs play, and I’ve been watching them since the 1950s. Mixu Paatelainen deserves a lot of credit for his goals and the work-rate he put in."
While some were casting their minds back to the glory days of the Famous Five, others were just delighted with the here and now.
Grant Forbes, from Granton, said: "That’s the best Hibs have played this season. Mixu was superb, and it’s a great feeling to be seven points clear of Rangers."
And Jack Allan, from Gorgie, added: "That was a real football team out there; the genuine article, and I’m so proud. Everyone is making a big deal out of the fact that Celtic are 12 points clear of Rangers, but we’re right in there."
They came from near and far to share in history. Stuart McDonald travelled from Birmingham. "This is my greatest trip up here," he said. "We got off to a slow start but, after about 15 minutes, there was only one team in the game. To end 6-2 was absolutely wonderful."
Callum Bruce lives just down the road in Leith. "If we keep this up, we’re going to win the league."
And there was little sympathy for beaten Hearts.
"Mixu, Zitelli and O’Neil ran Hearts ragged. We recovered from a slow start, and just imagine what the score would have been if we had started like we finished," said Tommy Louden, from Craigmillar.
"Hearts are a team of old has-beens. With the players we have, we can compete with the best."
John Fraser, from Willowbrae, added: "It was a great performance from the boys. You can’t fault any of them. Days like this only happen now and again."
For the maroon legions, however, it was nightmare.
"Hibs were great but Hearts were a shambles," said Brian Watt from Glasgow. "Chris Robinson is bleeding the club dry at Tynecastle and he needs to go before things can get better for them."
And the final words went to a miserable Stephanie Bain - "there is nothing that can be said" - and an ecstatic John Fraser. "I think I’ll have SIX pints," he said.
Hearts 3, Hibs 4 (March 1, 1958): Hearts were to go on and win the league this season and Hibs went into this Scottish Cup tie as underdogs. But it was the teenage Joe Baker who grabbed the headlines - and all the Hibs goals - as the Easter Road side returned to the east end of the city victorious.
Hearts 0, Hibs 7 (January 1, 1973): The 100th League derby became a match which Hibs fans will never forget, a 7-0 thrashing of Hearts at Tynecastle. It took Hibs only nine minutes to open the scoring, Jimmy O’Rourke grabbing the first of his two goals. Arthur Duncan and Alan Gordon also notched doubles with Alex Cropley knocking home the fourth goal as Hibs went in 5-0 up at the interval.
Hibs 2, Hearts 1 (March 10, 1979): Easter Road was packed for this Scottish Cup quarter-final to see Hibs win with goals from a young Gordon Rae and George Stewart.
Hearts 0, Hibs 1 (August 27, 1994): Derby days had become a subject of dread for Hibs fans as Hearts notched up an incredible run of 22 runs without defeat. But that was all brought to an end with a goal from skipper, Gordon Hunter, the victory all the sweeter as it came at Tynecastle.
Hearts 0, Hibs 3 (December 19, 1999): Dubbed the ‘Millennium Derby’, this match saw Hearts again humbled on their own turf as Hibs clocked up their biggest win over their arch-rivals since 1973. Dirk Lehmann and Franck Sauzee had Alex McLeish’s team 2-0 up at the interval and Kenny Miller underlined their supremacy with a third in the last minute.
Hibs 6, Hearts 2 (October 22, 2000): Hibs scored six against Hearts at Easter Road for the first time since 1938. Andy Kirk scored early for Hearts, but a hat-trick from Mixu Paatelainen, the first derby treble since Pat Quinn’s in 1967, had them reeling, with David Zitelli, John O’Neil and Russell Latapy making Colin Cameron’s late strike little consolation
This site has no official connection to Hibernian Football Club. All articles contained in this site are representative of the views of the individual authors concerned, and should not be regarded as being the views of the Editors of the individual publications used. Where possible copyrights have been acknowledged, any apparent or implied infringements brought to the attention of the Site Editors will be acted upon. This site has been created, designed and maintained by Fatty and Baldy , with contributions from many Hibs fans. |