Three takeaways from Hearts' night of woe against St Mirren

Analysis from the Simple Digital Arena as Daniel Stendel's side slip four points adrift at the foot of the table

Loic Damour and his team-mates had a night to forget in Paisley.

A night on the boos

In a season riddled with disappointment for Hearts supporters, this was their worst night yet. The Tynecastle side were booed off at both half-time and full-time and at various moments in between as St Mirren, who looked the hungrier side from the outset, fought their way to a fully-deserved win. Aside from a brief late flurry, Daniel Stendel's side were bereft of any purpose or intensity and never really looked like scoring. While there are still 24 points to play for, it is hard to make a compelling case for this Hearts team, in such inconsistent form, picking up enough points to avoid dropping to the Championship.

Disaster for Damour

While it may seem harsh to single out any player on such a grim night for Hearts, Loic Damour was the main source of anger among an irate travelling support. The Frenchman has had a couple of promising outings recently but here he endured the ignominy of cheer going up from the away end when he was eventually substituted in the second half. Indeed shortly prior to that, the Hearts fans booed Daniel Stendel's decision to take off Oliver Bozanic instead of Damour, who let the game pass him by in the first half and then gifted possession cheaply to St Mirren in the lead-up to the only goal of the game.

One extreme to the other

Just over a week ago, Hearts fans were basking in the glory of their impressive 3-1 win away to Hibs just a few days after beating Rangers in the Scottish Cup. At that point, morale was high among supporters and there was a genuine belief that their struggling team had turned the corner. Yet here they are four points adrift at the foot of the table with just eight games left after being comprehensively outfought by St Mirren in a game billed as their biggest of the season. For all the flickers of promise they have shown under Daniel Stendel, this bewildering Hearts team - one of the most expensively assembled in the league - continues to display a remarkable inability to eke out wins when it truly matters.