After six straight defeats exposed issues in attack and defence, Steven Naismith has a stern task turning Hearts' form around amid a tough schedule.
They won there in December for the first time in 14 years - the only Scottish side to do so all campaign - and added another home win over Celtic later in the term.
"It's just been a terrible start to the season for them in the league," Murphy told the BBC's Scottish Football podcast."Six losses in a row is something that clubs usually look at and start thinking about maybe something changing. But Naismith is good manager, he knows the game." Only Kilmarnock and Ross County have a lower conversion rate than Hearts in this season's Premiership. Kilmarnock and Hibs are the only teams with fewer shots on target than Hearts' 11.
"The international week probably at good time. They need to stop the rot. It's as simple as that and that starts from defence usually." It seems to be affecting players' confidence, with two errors already leading directly to goals, more than any other team in the league.Celtic lost twice to Hearts last season during a transitional phase for Brendan Rodgers' side.
But Hearts too have Europe on their mind, albeit not until next month. The Europa League defeat by Viktoria Plzen meant a Conference League berth for Naismith's team and they play Dinamo Minsk in Azerbaijan in early October.
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