Heart of Midlothian fell to their eighth consecutive loss as they fell to a 2-1 adefeat t St Mirren - a game that saw fans vent their frustration toward under pressure manager Steven Naismith.

The Jam Tarts started the game positively and created chances either side of Gerald Taylor's own goal which put the Buddies in front. Craig Halkett would equalise only for Hearts to concede a second first-half goal from a set piece with Toyosi Olusanya firing into the roof of the net following statuesque defending.

That's the way it stayed as the visitors never looked like getting a draw let alone win.

Joel Sked looks back at another disappointing afternoon for the men in maroon who have now started the season without a win in nine and are rooted to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership.

Hearts fans make feelings known

It was approaching the 75th minute when Liam Boyce and Alan Forrest were called back from warming up when loud chants of 'Naismith get to f**k' came from the away end. This was a huge game for Hearts and Naismith. The team started well and created a few openings yet if there was a period that summed up where Hearts currently are it was between the eighth and 18th minute. They were 1-0 down having yet to concede a shot at goal. The team got back into it through Craig Halkett but as has been the case this season they lost their way after the second St Mirren goal with an inevitability about the outcome. Throughout it all the Hearts fans had backed their team and showed their support. But as the game was meandering to a conclusion the double substitution decision sparked an outcry from some within the 1,600 sold-out away following with Musa Drammeh left on the bench. It is safe to say the club have a big decision to make in the days ahead. It continues to be the worst start to a season ever and the way the team lost their way once more continues to concern the club's support. 

Defensive struggles

There has been a feeling and understandably so to an extent that Hearts have defended well in general but have been cost by individual errors. That wasn't the case against St Mirren. Hearts looked fragile throughout. They won't be the only team to be caused issues by Toyosi Olusanya but they just couldn't get to grips with him or St Mirren in general in transition. We will come on to talk about the set-piece frailties but from open play, there was a vulnerability in the team. Worryingly, St Mirren didn't have to do anything special. One ball, one pass was all it took to put pressure on the Hearts backline, to turn the defence or pull the defensive structure apart.

Set-piece struggles

You hear about a team having an Achilles heel. The question is, can a team have more than one? Hearts certainly make the case for that being the case. One of those Achilles heels this season has been defending from set-pieces. Looking at the bare numbers in terms of goals conceded last season in the Premiership, they excelled. This season not so much. There were the two against Motherwell when players dropped deep too quickly. Against St Mirren, it was another case of shipping two. The first was a simple corner directed past a hesitant Craig Gordon by the unfortunate Gerald Taylor who now has more own goals than any other Hearts player has goals. The second, however, was more galling. A central free-kick was flicked on by Killian Phillips and latched onto by Toyosi Olusanya who thumped the ball into the roof of the net emphatically from inside the six-yard box. It is the basics of football and Hearts are simply not getting it right.

Shankland struggles

After 70 minutes no player, aside from second-half substitute Yutaro Oda, had fewer touches of the ball than Lawrence Shankland. That included half-time subs Daniel Oyegoke and Scott Tanser. The Hearts striker has been starved of chances. He has been a runner of lost causes, feeding off scraps, battling defenders and dropping deep to get involved. His performances deserve context but they also haven't been of the standard that is needed from a Hearts No.9 nor what fans expect from their No.9 who has finished top scorer in the last two seasons. Over those two campaigns even when he wasn't scoring he was still the focal point of the attack. You could fire the ball into him and trust him to hold it and link but too often this season he has had his pocket picked or looked like he was caught on his heels to allow the defender to nip the ball off of him. Hearts need to do more for their captain. But their captain also needs to do more for them.