The result was no surprise, in fact it was surprising they never lost, and neither was the performance, but Frail's admission that no clearout is needed is proof that he is not up to the task in hand.

Frail - out of his depth

Frail seems a nice enough chap, but the complete lack of respect shown to him by the players is only compounded by his feeble post-match comments that portrays the image of a coach who easily accepts mediocrity. Far too often we've heard comments like "We didn't play too badly" "it was good to get in at half time 0-0" and so on. Comments that smack of a man out of his depth, a man not wanting to upset the applecart with the players.

The insobordination shown towards Frail by Christain Nade last week would have had the striker substituted by any self respcecting coach. That is the problem (or part of it) - there is no repsect.

Frail loves his favourites too. Which is fair enough, after all every manager does, those players who he can rely on unconditionally. Sir Alex Ferguson has Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Avram Grant has John Terry and Didier Drogba, while Frail has Robbie Neilson and Callum Elliot. His persistence with these second rate players has probably cost us a top 6 place.

Frail's determination to play Elliot in such an impotent team since he took over has seen the striker become a prime target for the boo-boys and has probably damaged his reputation at the club beyond repair.

So where do we go from here? Vlad's delusions of grandeur are now just a faded memory, now we cannot even compete with the likes of Motherwell and Hibs for a European slot.

What is needed is a complete clearout. Lets start with the staff - Frail can go. Any of Vlad's hanchmen that are still hanging about can go too.

The defence is semi-decent, we should ship out Neilson, Zaliukas and Goncalves, leaving a relatively solid and mobile back 4 of Wallace, Berra, Karapidis and Tall. If they want the team to challenge beyond 3rd place, they should replace the fullbacks too.

In midfield, we should keep Jonsson and Palazuelous. They are fine players and would compliment any quality coming in. Kingston offers too little to justify his wages for me, Stewart is a waste of space, Miko is a primadonna and Chesney would make Darren Anderton look like a 60 game a season man. They can all go.

There aren't any forwards I would keep. Try and sell Mole, Elliot, Makela and Nade and if nobody is stupid enough to buy them then cancel their contracts. However much they are earning, it is too much.

On top of all that they need to make the one appointment that almost every club in the world except Hearts acknowledges is an important one - a manager.

Vlad's persistence with his spineless Yes men has wasted so much time and has got us into this position, now is the time to step up to the plate and deliver. Mark McGhee has been mentioned and I think he would be a good appointment but basically anyone who does not embrace mediocrity the way Frail does would be an improvement.

The reality is failure to conduct major surgery will likely see Hearts facing a releagtion battle next season. Gretna wont be around to act as a safety net and with Velicka no longer here to score the goals, we will be struggling, severely.

Time will tell come the summer. Here's hoping for once Vlad delivers.