EDINBURGH BOSSES HEADING FOR A DO-OR-DIE DERBY

IT becomes fairly obvious when a manager starts to lose the plot. They end up talking in riddles and their public utterances become increasingly bizarre. Pedro Caixinha, for instance, was ranting and raving about caravans just a couple of months before he got the bullet at Rangers. As his time as Manchester United boss was coming to a painful and protracted end, Louis van Gaal angrily told journalists to ‘enjoy the mince pies’ before storming out of a press conference during the festive period. Paul Heckingbottom isn’t quite there yet, but he’s not far off it judging from some of his comments at the weekend. After his Hibs team were soundly beaten at Motherwell on Saturday, he offered a curious assessment of their troubles. ‘You’ve all heard the saying that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,’ he said. ‘We worked hard but we were too easy to play against.’ What’s he saying there? They either worked hard or they didn’t. Heckingbottom is now sounding like a man who is under major pressure. Fans were chanting for him to go when the final whistle sounded at Fir Park — and it’s exactly the same with Craig Levein across the city. There were rumbles of discontent among the Hearts fans even before the season had started — and Saturday’s draw at home to Hamilton only amplified them. For both Edinburgh clubs to be languishing in the bottom six as we head in to the first international break of the season is a sorry state of affairs. Both Heckingbottom and Levein now have two games to save their jobs and turn it around. The second of those matches will see them face off against each other in the derby at Easter Road. Prior to that, Hibs play Kilmarnock at Rugby Park and Hearts host Motherwell at Tynecastle. I don’t see a scenario whereby Heckingbottom and Levein can both survive this upcoming period. In this particular battle for survival, there can be only one...