No nonsense. Perhaps not the first description that comes to mind when you think of Hearts striker Kyle Lafferty. But the former Rangers, Palermo and Norwich City striker believes that Hearts are hitting their straps because Craig Levein is a man with a low tolerance threshold for the sort of antics you may have associated with the Northern Irishman in his earlier career.
They saw off Hamilton at the Superseal Stadium on Saturday with a performance made up of one third attacking flair and two-thirds stoic resistance to frantic Accies pressure.
After boyhood Jambo Ross Callachan had bundled Hearts ahead with his first goal for the club on his second appearance a few minutes in and Lafferty had converted a penalty not too long after, it seemed as though a potentially tricky-looking trip to Lanarkshire was about to be navigated effortlessly.
Anyone who has been following Hearts in the last eight months though will tell you that life is rarely so straightforward, and so it proved as Accies hit back with a well worked goal before the break through Rakish Bingham.
It wasn’t that Hearts retreated into their shells after that setback, but there is little doubt that the pragmatism that marked their play from that moment on spoke volumes of their manager’s influence.
And the fact that Hearts were able to stand up to the customary, if belated, pressure from the home side, hints that the soft centre that had been allowed to grow fleshy around this Hearts squad is finally being trimmed back.
“One thing about the gaffer is that he will take no s**t,” said Lafferty, still nursing a numb posterior from a robust Hamilton challenge. “If anyone is not working hard then they will be sat beside him.
“But no matter who has been in charge this season, we have got a good, honest squad. We will work for whoever is in charge but I think everyone is doing that little bit extra now because we know we have a manager who wants us to work hard. If you are putting in a shift then you are going to be playing.”
Whether the fact that Ian Cathro failed to command the respect of the Tynecastle changing room reflects badly upon him or the Hearts players is open to debate, but what is not up for question is that the man who is currently in charge commands the respect of even seasoned internationals like Lafferty.
“The gaffer has managed Scotland and done well at Dundee United as well,” said Lafferty.
“He has come in and put down his authority quite quickly. As I say, if you work hard then you will be on the team sheet.
“Look at the size of him and the way he is built! No, it’s about how he is. He had built a team that wants to work hard. We have workers and players who can play and go and damage teams.”
It was quite the day for players confounding stereotypes, as Hamilton midfielder Darian MacKinnon, himself no shrinking violet, showed a new-found skill for diplomacy that would put Kofi Annan to shame.
While forthright on his views over Hamilton’s uncharacteristically sloppy start, he was quick to forgive Jamie Walker for his spot of play-acting that had only minutes before saw him scream in the face of the Hearts man while he lay in faux agony on the plastic pitch.
“I was disappointed, but I don’t want to get into an argument with him,” said MacKinnon.
“He’s admitted that he dived, and says that he was just trying to protect himself. I haven’t touched him, and Bobby (Madden) has seen it was a dive, but I don’t want anyone booked for that.
“He’s a good player and a good kid, and best of luck to him for the rest of the season.
“Every team tries to get me booked, that’s just what I expect now. I think it’s my haircut as well, I would try to get me booked to be honest with you.
“I think it’s just the way I play, I don’t think I’m a dirty player and I haven’t had many bookings this season.
“I can be a bit crazy sometimes, but I don’t ever deliberately try to hurt anybody.
“I love getting in about it and I love trying to get the ball and give it to wee Ali and that. I love every side of the game.
“I went over and shook Jamie’s hand at the end. It’s not the end of the world, it’s a game of football and I’m not going to fall out with anyone.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here