PauloSergio ‘proud of players’ but Kenny Shiels questions Hearts’ temperament

THE Kilmarnock manager, Kenny Shiels, last night branded Hearts the “most aggressive” side in the SPL and claimed their inability to channel that aggression allowed his side to leave Tynecastle with all three points.

THE Kilmarnock manager, Kenny Shiels, last night branded Hearts the “most aggressive” side in the SPL and claimed their inability to channel that aggression allowed his side to leave Tynecastle with all three points.

Yesterday’s game saw Hearts midfielder Ian Black and manager Paulo Sergio both sent off as Kilmarnock won 1-0. Afterwards, Shiels said: “The Ian Black incident I genuinely didn’t see. Ian Black is a fantastic footballer and I have seen him a lot but he has got to take that out of his game if he wants to progress with his career. We know that Hearts are the most aggressive team in the league and we prepared for that.”

Shiels added that he thought the penalty, from which his son Dean scored the winner, was a correct decision and that Marius Zaliukas had fouled Paul Heffernan. “From where I was it was a penalty kick and, if it wasn’t, then the player will be fined for diving. But, if it was a penalty, then I feel it has to be a red card. There were a lot of players lucky to stay on the pitch in the Hearts team.”

Black was shown a straight red card for a reckless challenge on Dean Shiels in the 16th minute.

Shiels snr praised his players for not losing their cool. He said: “I think we showed courage by not getting involved. Aggression could be a compliment or criticism but uncontrolled aggression isn’t good and there has been a lot of talk this week about the situation at the club [Hearts].”

Shiels’ suggestion was that the Hearts players took their frustration over unpaid wages on to the pitch. He also dismissed claims of injustice after Hearts were denied a penalty for handball, insisting it had been unintentional. “That time I had a good view. They were claiming for everything and it was a joke at times.

“This was a good example of a good footballing team coming out on top. I’m not being disparaging of Hearts but justice was done.”

With Hearts maintaining a media blackout, manager Paulo Sergio said on the club website: “I am proud of our players. We created a lot of chances. Playing with ten men is not easy so when the chances arrived we were not as cool in front of goal as we maybe would have been with 11.”