IS BOYD TOO BLUNT FOR KILLIE’S OWN GOOD?

AS a football pundit, Kris Boyd has a decent sales pitch. A man with opinions, he’s not afraid to express them. Whether he should express them while he plays for Kilmarnock, however, is the question. Journalists can’t be hypocritical about this. Footballers with the courage to speak their mind are as rare as hen’s teeth. God bless them all. In his Rangers days, Boyd was suspicious and guarded with the media. His views now are forthright, interesting and have currency. BT Sport have cornered the market in outspoken pundits and Boyd fits in well. He also has a newspaper column and his blunt opinions on the appointment of Ian Cathro as Hearts manager and Callum Paterson’s merits as a Scotland player kept the headline writers happy. But here’s the problem. Kilmarnock travelled to Tynecastle on Tuesday night and suffered a 4-0 thrashing. It could have been eight. The Edinburgh side might have won anyway. After three games without a victory, Cathro was due a break. But speaking to one former pro the morning after, he was in no doubt. Boyd’s outspoken views motivated Hearts no end. Ramming the words of the Killie striker back down his throat was a big deal. All of which raises a question. As a pundit and columnist, Boyd earns his corn and then some — but how should Kilmarnock feel when a player they pay to win football games has the opposite effect? Cathro’s social-media disciples haven’t done him many favours by painting him as the keeper of the game’s great secrets. But Boyd did do the Hearts coach a huge turn when he had a go at his credentials and methods just weeks after raising doubts over Paterson’s ability to play for Scotland. Given time, he might be proven right on both counts. But by 10pm on Tuesday — long after Boyd had been hooked to sarcastic cheers — Cathro’s appointment was being hailed as a masterstroke once more. And news of a ten-month injury lay-off for the luckless Paterson felt like a disaster for Scotland boss Gordon Strachan. The suspicion is Killie gave Boyd the green light to tee up a future career in the media. As the Ayrshire club slide closer to the relegation zone after that Hearts thumping, they must be asking themselves if that was the best of moves.