The Jambos boss appeared to have a dig at a Hibs fan banner after their Scottish Premiership derby win and some Hearts fans loved his comments.
Hearts will end 2018 in fifth place in the Scottish Premiership table after they secured local bragging rights against Hibernian on Saturday afternoon.
Craig Levein’s side were at the summit in early November but, despite having slipped out of title contention somewhat, they remain six points behind top-placed Celtic.
The difference between the two Edinburgh sides at Easter Road came courtesy of Olly Lee’s deft turn and finish on 28 minutes.
Although Hibs twice hit the woodwork, Oli Shaw striking the top of the crossbar and Steven Whittaker seeing his effort come off against the upright, Hearts held on for all three points.
The final whistle meant the Jambos became the first away side to win an Edinburgh derby in 15 attempts – since April 2014 – and pulled them seven points clear of their city rivals, as reported by BBC Sport.
At full time, Levein spoke to the official club site and had words of praise for his players, saying: “The boys took things to a whole new level today – there is class, there is first class, there is Hibs class…and the one above that is Hearts class!”
Some Hearts fans took to Twitter and reacted to their manager’s comments, an apparent reference to a Hibs banner at the game which read: “there’s class, there’s first class, then there’s Hibs class”:
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