John Robertson sends defiant Hearts message amid 'horrendous' title pain and shares unanimous Jambos feeling
The Hearts icon was at Parkhead as the Jambos lost to Celtic and finished second in the Premiership.
John Robertson has urged Hearts fans to keep the faith in Derek McInnes’ side after their title dreams faded on the final day of the Premiership season.
The Jambos knew a win or draw would see them win the league at Parkhead but they lost 3-1 thanks to Arne Engels’ penalty and late Daizen Maeda and Callum Osmand efforts. Robertson was on punditry duty for Sky Sports, pitchside in Glasgow’s east-end, alongside Celtic heroes Scott Brown and Chris Sutton, plus Scotland legend James McFadden.
He was left crestfallen but the Hearts icon is not losing hope. The former striker has piled praise on the season the club enjoyed in manager McInnes’ first term, and while title pain is hard to swallow, he can only see those in maroon improving.
John Robertson on Hearts losing the title
Robertson told Sky: “It's the way it is. They'll be devastated, they'll be heartbroken, you'll get all the heartache, heartbroken, Hearts are broken etc etc and that's how it'll be. It's really, really tough to take, as a fan it's tough to take. As a player you're on the pitch and you believe you can do something about it, to try and affect it in some way.
“As a fan watching it, it's just horrendous. You feel for the players, they have nothing to be ashamed of this group of players, this management team, and the fans that follow them all through the country have got nothing to be ashamed of. They shouldn't be down. They will be down but they shouldn't be down because this is just a start.
“James has said it already, Chris has said it over the weeks, this Hearts team and club are going to get stronger and that's what we should look at. Today, yes be upset, yes be hugely disappointed, but not of the team, not of the players, they have given us everything. Absolutely everything and more. I am very proud of them and I'm sure the whole Hearts fanbase are very proud of them.”
Sky pundits on Celtic pitch invasion
Fellow pundits McFadden and Sutton meanwhile called out post-match scenes where Celtic fans stormed the Parkhead pitch with claims some Hearts players were assaulted as they made their way straight onto the team bus. McFadden stated: “I understand spilling over onto the pitch with the emotion but get back off the pitch. This is unacceptable for me. Going up to players, I get again emotions run high, but the players should be safe on the football pitch.
“There should be no point where their safety is threatened and you do not want to see that. There will always be people that spoil it for everyone else. You heard the majority of fans in here booing the reaction of the fans that had gone onto the pitch. They know that, yes you go and support your team and you're overjoyed at winning another title, but do it the right manner. That is unacceptable for me. It should never happen, a player should be safe on a football pitch, he should not be surrounded by stewards. Lawrence Shankland is almost surrounded by his teammates to make sure nothing happens to him. That's unacceptable.”
Sutton, a Celtic legend, added: “I totally agree with that. There's no place for that. You can imagine how the Hearts players would have felt after such a long season and losing it at the end. The Celtic fans who got involved with the Hearts players were lucky they didn't get a thump or two.”