They say the sign of a good manager is pulling results out of the bag when it really matters, and Hearts boss Csaba Laszlo certainly pulled one out of the bag on Sunday by beating Hibs 2-0 in the 4th round of the Scottish Cup.
His team hadn't scored a goal since sometime last year, rumours are growing about imminent sales of players, and they performed miserably against Motherwell on Wednesday. Yet Hibs proved the perfect hosts, giving their opponents a much-needed victory.
The match turned just after the half hour mark, when Steven Fletcher got sent off for a dangerous foul, Hibs lost the plot, and Christian Nade scored. After that, there was only going to be one winner of this tie.
Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen felt the sending off was wrong (he had a point) and that it changed the game. He was right here, too, because nothing he did after this moment had any impact. Down to 10 men, Hibs could not find a way back into the game. Derek Riordan - the player whose return from Celtic last August was described as a "statement of intent" by the club - was utterly anonymous right up until his substitution on the 65th minute, when he made an abusive guesture towards the Hearts fans and got booked for his trouble.
Forced to throw caution to the wind, defender Rob Jones went up front, leaving Hibs open to the counter attack which was smartly finished by Gary Glen.
Hearts have now won a 5th round tie at home to Falkirk, which is at least another matchday to bring in some cash.
As for Hibs, it's hard to see where they can go from here. They really need to finish 3rd if this season is not to be seen as a failure. That looks like a very slim hope.
More 4th round results here.
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