Jim Jefferies will be glad when this season is over and done with. The fraught season reached a new low on Wednesday. As he watched his side get beaten 3-0, his Celtic counterpart, Neil Lennon was the victim of an assault by a fan. It was the latest episode in a season which has seen referees' integrity questioned, an officials' strike, investigations into ill-tempered on-field and touchline clashes and bullets and a "viable" explosive device being sent. Jefferies, whose will be planning a European campaign as Dundee United cannot overtake Hearts into third place, is happy the season is at an end.
The Hearts manager said: "With what's been going on this year for everybody it's just a season to put to bed. If you look at it all I don't think there's been a punch thrown - it's all been pushing and shoving, accusations, decisions. It's started to get out of hand. Hopefully it will calm down over the summer and we can make sure next year we don't get a repeat. If we do it's going to sicken a lot of people."
The latest incident, which has attracted interest around the world, saw a fan leave the main stand, and attack Lennon after Gary Hooper had put Celtic 2-0 ahead after 49 minutes. John Wilson was charged with breach of the peace aggravated by religious prejudice and assault aggravated by religious prejudice. No plea or declaration was made in the private hearing in Edinburgh Sheriff Court and he was remanded in custody for further examination.
There was further trouble as some fans in the Celtic section of the ground appeared to fight with stewards and police. The events reignited calls for the return of perimeter fences at football stadia. Jefferies added: "If it ever got any worse then that might be an option. In countries where it has been a problem in the past that's what they tended to do. It's sad if it gets to that stage."
The Hearts manager today repeated his post-game comments that the atmosphere at Tynecastle was tense. He went on: "There seemed to be this hostile atmosphere. I felt there was some other agenda. You always felt there was something ready to kick off. The Celtic supporters are always very, very vocal but the other night even before the game started and right through they went full the full repertoire. I've never heard them as noisy as that. You just felt there was something brewing. But thankfully it never spilled onto the pitch. Even though there were some feisty challenges, the players never responded."
It is understood Hearts had more security on duty than at any other game this season, with 220 stewards, an increase of 25%, and double the normal number of police officers. Hearts are understood to be continuing to investigate how the alleged assailant entered the ground, but it is believed he is not a season-ticket holder and he last night was given a life ban. Jefferies said: "Things that happened shouldn't happen and we've got to make the right steps to make sure this is sorted out. It's very difficult for this football club and the stadium we have to stop one person - how much policing do you put on?" I wondered what would have happened if we had won the game. Winning (for Celtic) kept everything sweet."