‘THE MANAGER’S AN IDIOT,’ ADMITS LEVEIN

CRAIG LEVEIN surveyed the wreckage of Hearts’ 5-0 mauling from Celtic and admitted: “The manager’s an idiot.”

The Tynecastle boss accepted full responsibility for his team’s demoralising loss as the champions ran amok at Parkhead yesterday.

Levein admitted a tactical blunder of monumental proportions as he reshaped his line-up following the 3-0 Betfred League Cup semi-final hammering at Murrayfield a week ago.

Things, however, didn’t quite got to plan as Brendan Rodgers’ men raced to a 4-0 interval lead with goals from Odsonne Edouard (2) and Filip Benkovic.

And the agony continued in the second-half as James Forrest and Ryan Christie, with a penalty-kick, added to the tally as the champions moved to within a point of the Edinburgh outfit with a game in hand.

Levein said: “The manager’s an idiot. With all the high-profile games we’ve played, I thought our energy levels were starting to wane, so I made a decision to sit in and hit Celtic on the counter-attack. But, God, I got that one wrong, eh?

“I’ve done the players a disservice because we had more energy than I thought we did. Once you set out that way, it’s very difficult to change it until half-time.

“The second half I was pleased with, I know we lost two goals, but, at least, we were in the game and had opportunities.

“Put that one down to me. We got caught between defending deep and being passive when we defended and letting Celtic cross the ball.

“As much as I’d like to blame other people, I can’t do it on this occasion.”

For once, the Celtic supporters are in total agreement with the Hearts gaffer.