Kris Boyd Savages Hearts for ‘Lack of Respect’ After Celtic Rout

• Celtic beat Hearts 7-1 at Parkhead and moved four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
• Kris Boyd said Hearts showed a “lack of respect” to Celtic and called the performance a wake-up call.
• Hearts coach Wouter Vrancken apologised and blamed individual mistakes and two set plays at the start of the game.

Hearts Walked Into Parkhead Believing They Were Equals

Kris Boyd did not hold back after Celtic hit Hearts for seven at Parkhead. Speaking on Sky Sports, he said he could not work out what Hearts had been trying to do and called their display a wake-up call.

“That first half was devastating. Hearts, I cannot for the life of me work out what they were trying to do there,” said Boyd.

He went further on the attitude he saw from the visitors. “To come here and show the lack of respect to Celtic that Hearts have done today would be a wake-up call for me,” he said.

The result sent Martin O’Neill’s champions four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership. Hearts, who arrived as the division’s top scorers with a chance to close to within two points of the leaders, dropped to third, four points behind Rangers.

Boyd Questions Hearts’ Belief

Hearts came to Glasgow hunting revenge. Callum Osmand scored the goal that sealed Celtic’s last-gasp title win over them last season, and he struck twice in three first-half minutes this time. Kieran Tierney and Benjamin Nygren had already put Celtic two up inside ten minutes, both from corners.

Boyd pointed to the way Hearts were criticised last season. “Derek McInnes [then Hearts boss] got criticised for it from a lot of people in terms of just grinding out results,” he said, and said that style, though ugly to watch, had kept them in contention.

He saw little in this season’s Hearts side that would get into the Celtic team. “I don’t see any of that Hearts team that’s going in the Celtic team. I don’t see any of it, so what would make you think you’re better than them?” he asked.

His verdict on the scoreline was blunt. “That there was an annihilation. I mean, I have never seen anything like it in my life,” Boyd said.

McGowan Says Hearts Gifted Celtic Their Goals

Former Hearts defender Ryan McGowan watched the same game and gave a split verdict. “I couldn’t work out if Hearts were really poor or Celtic were really good. It’s probably a combination of the two of them,” he said.

McGowan focused on the turnovers. “The amount of times that Hearts gave the ball away in really dangerous areas for Celtic, and there would only be two passes and it was a goal, and they continually did it throughout the whole game,” he said.

Celtic led 5-1 at the break after Mika Baur forced an own goal from Jamie McCart. Camilo Duran made it six four minutes after the restart and Nygren added the seventh. McGowan said whatever the manager told his players at half-time “went completely out of their ears”.

He still gave the winners their credit. “It was a really poor performance from Hearts, which you haven’t said that often in the last 12 months. At the same time, you’ve got to give Celtic a lot of credit,” McGowan said.

The numbers back up the shock. Hearts had conceded only eight league goals all season before shipping seven in 90 minutes at Celtic Park, and their last win outside Edinburgh came in January. They had 20 shots at goal, and Laurent Mendy scored their only goal.

O’Neill and Vrancken React

O’Neill, 74, had worried about his players after their 3-1 Europa League defeat to Benfica on Thursday. He started the same front three that finished that game in Lisbon, and Nygren, Osmand and Duran all scored. “Everything clicked for us today. We might have had two more chances but everything that we hit went into the net,” he told Sky Sports.

The Celtic manager also refused to write off the beaten side. “It’s easy to be magnanimous after the game but they’re still big challengers,” he said.

Hearts head coach Wouter Vrancken took responsibility for the damage. “When you’re not on top level in the top games, then it’s really difficult to get a result,” he said. He pointed to “the individual mistakes and the two set plays which killed us at the beginning of the game” and then added: “We made mistakes that we wouldn’t normally make. That’s it. I’m sorry.”

Both sides now turn to Europe. Celtic host Celta Vigo on Thursday, while Hearts travel to Trabzonspor in the Conference League. On 25 October Hearts face Motherwell and Celtic go to Hibernian in the league.

Boyd’s question to the Hearts players was a simple one: what made them think they were better than Celtic?