Naismith adds to the Hearts Hall of Shame with Hampden no show

Football - Rangers v Celtic Scottish FA Cup Fifth Round - Ibrox Stadium - 10/11 - 6/2/11 Celtic's Fraser Forster fouls Rangers Steven Naismith for a penalty kick and is sent off Mandatory Credit: Action Images / Jason Cairnduff Livepic

To the surprise of absolutely no-one Hearts lost 2-0 at Hampden today in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

Today’s match went much the same way as the November League Cup semi-final with Steven Naismith’s side looking passive and uninterested against opponents there for the taking.

Ross County and Dundee provided Hearts with a blueprint of how to get at, upset and take points from Philippe Clement’s side but if the Belgian could have hand picked an opponent to face today it would have been the side from Gorgie.

Naismith has picked up on Robbie Neilson’s abysmal record against the Ibrox side, whenever they require a boost it usually comes from a match against Scotland’s third best side.

While being relegated from the Premiership at the end of the 2019/20 season Daniel Stendel managed a Scottish Cup win and SPFL victory over Steven Gerrard over five weeks, there hasn’t been any since the German left Tynecastle.

Hearts are virtually assured of third place in the SPFL Premiership and European group stage football this season, they will conclude their SPFL programme by hosting their friends from Ibrox on May 18, a week before the final of the Scottish Cup.

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