Hearts humiliated, but would Vrancken do anything differently?
Former Hearts midfielder Andy Halliday wondered after Sunday’s 7‑0 defeat at Celtic whether manager Wouter Vrancken would change any decisions if given a second chance. He suspects the Belgian coach would not.
Celtic raced to a two‑goal lead inside ten minutes, were four up by the 40th minute and added a fifth before halftime. Two more goals came after the break, leaving Hearts’ fledgling title hopes in tatters.
The scene at Celtic Park recalled the early setbacks of Vrancken’s tenure, when heavy European losses to Sturm Graz and Benfica exposed a free‑flowing, attack‑oriented side that was easily broken down. Yet it is the way Hearts have been asked to play under their new boss that has drawn the most criticism, especially after a run of 13 games with only one defeat that was built on a high‑scoring style.
In the post‑match interview with BBC Sport Scotland, Vrancken blamed individual mistakes for the goals conceded. “We made a few individual mistakes,” he said. “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 the front foot to attack the ball. Against individual mistakes you can’t do too much. The only thing that cannot happen is that everybody starts doubting now 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.”
Critics argue that Vrancken’s focus on player errors ignored his own tactical choices. Former defender Ryan McGowan said many players “went missing” and that any instructions from the coach “went completely out their ears.” Former Scotland striker Kris Boyd was equally stunned by the defensive display, telling Sky Sports, “I’ve never seen defending like that in all my life. 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 echoed that sentiment on Sportsound, noting a lack of accountability. “He was talking about players’ errors rather than his own, 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,” he said. “I’ve praised Vrancken to the hilt – 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 reacted with a mixture of frustration and resignation. One supporter wrote, “My concern is the Hearts manager never seems to change his formation when things are not working out. He needs to be flexible or we’ll see these scorelines a lot with bigger teams.” Another commented, “Three minutes away from the title in May? Miles off it today.” A third added, “Relegation material. 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.” Others argued that tactical flaws could not be the sole cause, pointing out that Hearts actually dominated possession, completed more passes and had more shots, suggesting the blame lay with individual errors rather than the manager.
The result left Celtic with ten shots on target and seven goals, turning what should have been a routine win into a display that made an average Celtic side look like world beaters.