We chucked it and this can’t happen again, insists MacLean
STRIKER Steven MacLean admits the Hearts players ‘chucked it’ in Friday’s televised humiliation against Livingston.
One of the game’s most wily and competitive characters, the very notion of throwing in the towel is anathema to the 36-year-old but he could offer nothing but that brutal assessment after a 5-0 defeat that was easily the club’s worst of the campaign.
The Tynecastle side collapsed over the course of 14 second-half minutes after a rash aerial challenge by goalkeeper Bobby Zlamal conceded a penalty that was converted by Livvy captain Craig Halkett.
Hearts midfielder Arnaud Djoum then saw red for a second yellow card before Dolly Menga, Ryan Hardie with a double, and Sean Byrne twisted the knife.
Manager Craig Levein has offered assurances to the club’s support that there will be no repeat performance and MacLean insisted the eye-watering loss was all on the players afield.
‘It wasn’t good enough,’ he said. ‘We chucked it. It’s not acceptable from every single one of us.
‘There are 11 boys in the dressing room that need to take responsibility because it can’t happen again.’
Although Hearts have been ravaged by injuries in recent weeks, Levein sent out an experienced side in Livingston.
Captain Christophe Berra, Djoum, Aaron Hughes and Michael Smith are all seasoned international players, yet could not summon the game management to minimise the damage.
‘We need to realise if things don’t go our way, we can’t just go gung-ho when we’re down to 10 men,’ continued MacLean. ‘We folded like a pack of cards and left ourselves so open.
‘But there was enough experience in there to sort it out and we never did it. It’s just not acceptable.
‘It’s nothing to do with the manager. It was the 11 — then the 10 — individuals that have to take responsibility.
‘We have to apologise to our supporters and to the manager as well.’
The former St Johnstone forward hit the bar late on but it is doubtful whether even a consolation goal would have raised his spirits.
The despondency was in marked contrast to the early weeks of the season when Levein’s side set the pace at the top of the Premiership.
Injuries to Berra, Uche Ikpeazu, John Souttar and, especially, Steven Naismith have not helped, but last weekend’s 1-0 win over Motherwell had offered hope after a sequence of seven games without a victory.
To MacLean, Friday night felt worse than anything endured during that run.
‘It’s pretty much as low as I’ve felt after a game,’ he admitted. ‘I think the rest of the boys are feeling it, too.
‘We got plaudits at the start of the season for how we were playing but we’d expect criticism after that.
‘We’re going to get hammered and rightly so. It’s about how we react to it. We’ve got big characters who can make sure we put it right.’