IN THE aftermath of damaging defeats during his short reign as Hearts manager, Ian Cathro has at times stood accused of being less than forthright with his explanations of what has gone wrong, and appearing awkward in his dealings with the media.

Winger Sam Nicholson had no such worries after this woeful loss to Partick Thistle at Firhill on Saturday. His message was clear; Hearts were embarrassing.

It was hard to argue. A calamitous blunder by stand-in centre-half Lennard Sowah handed Thistle the initiative, Kris Doolan taking full advantage of his errant defensive header by showing a feather-light touch and composure to finish just six minutes in. They never looked back, and after Isma Goncalves had been sent off after picking up two ridiculous bookings, one for dissent after Hearts were awarded a free-kick and the other for a needless tackle on Christie Elliott, the result was never in doubt.

Liam Lindsay added a second just to make sure after exhibiting a first touch and finish that his teammate Doolan would have been proud of.

As for Hearts, it has been a week to forget, and they too took away exactly what they merited.

No-one who witnessed Nicholson’s address after the match could accuse him of not caring, but there was an suggestion left hanging that perhaps there are others within their dressing room that just do not care enough.

“To be honest, it was embarrassing,” said Nicholson. “Nobody stood up to be counted for the team. Nobody, in my opinion, earned their jersey today.

“We’ve got to change it. We’ve got the players there to do it. But, if you want to sit there and play pretty football, and pass the ball about, at the end of the day, in Scotland, you still need to win your battles.”“