Season 2020-2021

Well 2020-2021 was certainly a season with a difference. With the global pandemic of Covid19 causing major disruption to life across the world football was also bound to suffer as lockdowns and restrictions in social contact  became a feature in most countries. I had bought my season ticket early despite Hearts having been expelled from the SPL. I refuse to call it relegation given with eight matches left Hearts could  still have saved themselves. The Championship showed even more self interest than the SPL had previously with a vote meaning that the start of the season was delayed until October with a twenty-seven match season rather than the normal thirty-six. There was also a vote on use of substitutes. While every other league in SPFL voted to use five substitutes the Championship retained the number used at three. A clear show of concern for the welfare of players in troubled times ! The one consolation was the delayed start meant I qualified for an cheaper ticket given my birthday is in September and Hearts gave me a refund on the full price I had initially paid. However restrictions meant that no fans were allowed in grounds throughout the season and I was unable to attend any football in person. Having not been to any live games I have decided to write a report on the season rather than individual matches given that this blog is about my football journeys which does not include watching on television from the couch.

Hearts made an offer to season ticket holders that all home league matches streamed by the club would be made available free of charge with a discount being made on next seasons ticket renewal depending on the number of games held behind closed doors. With live Championship matches also being covered on the BBC Scotland weekly there were a number of options available to watch Hearts without being able to attend matches. The one disappointment was that the Betfred Cup matches, or League Cup as I still call it, were being covered on Premier Sports. As I am already paying for Sky and BT Sports I did not want to splash out on a third sports channel so I missed the televised home ties against Inverness and Raith Rovers. A number of away games were streamed by the home sides and I was able to watch those which were not televised live by paying for the club stream. The standard of the streaming was variable with Raith having an excellent set up. They replayed major incidents on a split screen so viewers would not miss any action while these were shown. For the Hearts match they also had an interview with former Raith and Hearts star Colin Cameron at halftime which appealed to both clubs fanbases. The full interview was also show afterwards on both Raith TV and YouTube. Arbroath coverage was also amusing. They had a fan as co-commentator known as  'The Fermer". Possibly there should have been sub-titles for those who struggled with his Doric dialect. I was not too keen on Alloa or Morton, both of which seemed to freeze regularly but managed to see most of the games.

On the field there had been a number of changes at Hearts. At the end of the season Oliver Bozanic, Marcel Langer, Donis Avdijaj and Steven Mclean did not have their contracts renewed along with a number of younger players including Daniel Baur and Alex Petrov. Loanees Tony Sibbick, Ryotaro Meshino, and Joel Pereira also returned to their respective parent clubs. Manager Daniel Stendl had forgone his salary and returned home to Germany as the Covid lockdown continued. He had a get-out clause in his contract if Hearts were not in the SPL but it was still surprising when it was announced that Robbie Neilson was returning to manage Hearts after leading Dundee United to the SPL by winning the Championship. Stendl was not contacted by Hearts until after Neilson's appointment was announced due, it was claimed, to a communication breakdown. Neilson had lmanaged Hearts to Championship success in 2014/15 before leaving to take over at Milton Keynes in 2016. His appointment was not met with universal approval among fans with many feeling that his teams did not play attractive football. 

With Neilson's appointment the clear-out at Hearts continued. Players moving on included Uche Ikpeazu (to Wycombe), Sean Clare (Oxford), Conor Washington (Charlton), Calumn Morrison (Falkirk), Ben Garuccio (Melbourne City) and Anthony McDonald (Cordoba). Fees were obtained for Ikpeazu, Clare and Washington who were among the higher wage earners and this enabled Neilson to sign a number of new players within the budget for the season although no transfer fees were paid by signing out of contract players. Players signed were goal-keepers Craig Gordon (previously with Celtic) and Ross Stewart (loan from Livingston), full-back Steven Kingsley (Swansea), central defender Mihai Popescu (Dinamo Bucharest), midfielder Andy Halliday (Rangers) and wingers Jordon Roberts (Ipswich), Elliott Frear (Forest Green Rovers) and Josh Ginnelly (loan from Preston). 

Goal-keeper Gordon, a Scottish internationalist, was the biggest signing. Having signed for Hearts as a youngster he broke through into the first team in 2002 before being transferred to Sunderland in 2007 for £9 million (a then British transfer record fee for a goalkeeper). he returned to Scotland in 2014 with Celtic after two years out of football, due to injury, after leaving Sunderland. He quickly broke into the Celtic first team and also made an international comeback before losing his first team place in 2019. Despite now being 38 years old he is still a fine goalkeeper and would take over what has been a problematic position for Hearts in the last few years. The signing of three wingers was a positive sign of a more attacking style of football than in recent seasons. With the new signings plus Jamie Walker, albeit Walker can also play the number ten role, it was anticipated that more chances could be made for the strikers. The main strikers were considered to be Liam Boyce and captain Steven Naismith with Craig Wighton and Euan Henderson as back-up. 

As the start of the season approached Hearts then set up some loan deals for players who were not in the first team plans. With no reserve league been played due to pandemic it was important to give younger players a chance of first team action elsewhere and also to allow those more experienced players also outside of the first team squad a chance to attract attention by playing elsewhere. Those who moved on loan where goalkeepers Colin Doyle (Kilmarnock) and Harry Stone (Spartans then Albion Rovers in January), defender Chris Hamilton (Dumbarton then Stirling Albion in January) and Cammy Logan (Cove Rangers from January), midfielders Connor Smith (Arbroath then Cove Rangers from January), Lewis Moore (Arbroath from January) and Harry Cochrane (Montrose) and striker Leeroy Makovora (Brechin then Gala Fairydean in January). Goalkeeper Bobby Zlamal had two emergency loan spells as cover for clubs who had keepers suffering from Covid. He played for St Mirren early in the season and then St Johnstone in May 2021. The biggest surprise was Cochrane being sent out on loan. He made his debut as a sixteen year-old and looked very promising in his first season. against Celtic in 2017 he had an excellent game and outshone Celtic and Scotland midfielder Scott Brown in addition to scoring his first goal in a 4-0 victory. However he had injury problems and also seemed to lack a physical presence in midfield. After spending time at Dunfermline on loan on 2019-2020 he was expected to figure in the first team squad again. However manager Neilson felt he would benefit more from regular games rather than making intermittent substitute appearances and therefore loaned him to League One Montrose for the season.

Friendlies

Hearts season started on 28th August with a home friendly against English Premier League side Sheffield United. Despite being class as a home game the match was staged on the training pitch at the Oriam. Hearts went down to a 1-0 defeat against a strong Sheffield side with the only goal of the game coming from Scottish internationalist John Fleck. During the pre-season Hearts also travelled to play English premier side Burnley again on their training pitch rather than at Turf Moor. A 4-1 defeat was no disgrace against another strong side. Against Scottish opposition Hearts defeated Premier League St Mirren 2-1 (A) and League One sides Falkirk 3-0 (H), East Fife 5-0 (H) and Partick Thistle 2-0 twice (H&A). Jamie Walker scored five teams in this series on matches which was encouraging for he competitive fixtures to come. Midfielder Loic Damour featured six times in this series of matches, three starts and three times as substitute, but was not seen in a Hearts jersey again during the season. I don't suppose it worries him as he signed a four-year deal in 2019 when He was signed by Craig Levein. The club have been trying to get him to leave but I think he is happy to stay unless his Hearts deal can be bettered elsewhere. 

Betfred Cup

Hearts where involved in the qualifying stages for the Betfred Cup. As the top five SPL sides are involved in European competition early in the season they are exempt from the qualifying stages. Despite being in the Championship Hearts were one of the seeded sides in the qualifying stages and were drawn in a group with Inverness Caledonian Thistle (ICT), Raith Rovers, East Fife and Cowdenbeath. with the draw being made on a regionalised basis it seemed odd that were included in the same group as three east coast central belt sides but the SPFL committee may not be experts in geography. Hearts home games with ICT and Raith were both being televised. However they were being shown on Premier Sports and despite being tempted  I refused to pay the additional £10 to watch these matches which were not covered by Hearts TV under the season ticket deal given the live transmission. 

Hearts strolled through the qualifying group with full points. Their four victories were ICT 1-0, Raith 3-1, East Fife 3-2 and Cowdenbeath 1-0. The ICT match was the first for Hearts. The game was won with a second half penalty from Jamie Walker. Jim, who is an ICT fan, texted me to say it was never a penalty and I have to say seeing a replay on TV that it was certainly a dubious handball decision. With the changes in the handball rule to say that a penalty should be given when the ball hit the arm when the arm is in an 'unnatural position' referees seemed to be giving penalties in almost ever instance when the ball hits an arm and I think I would have been unhappy if the award had been against Hearts. Olly Lee, who had been on loan at Gillingham last season, was playing in midfield for Hearts in this game. While he is not a flamboyant type of player he works hard and is an excellent passer of the ball and it was good to see him back in the team after falling out with previous manager, Craig Levein. The second game was away to Cowdenbeath. Due to works being carried out at Central Park the match was switched to East Fife's New Bayview. Hearts made a deal with Cowdenbeath that they would arrange to stream the game with proceeds from the sale of viewing passed been split evenly between the two clubs. The game was a procession towards the Cowdenbeath goal but Hearts were not making many clear cut opportunities. Hearts finally scored with twelve minutes to go when Elliott Frear's corner was headed home by centre-half Craig Halkett. Hearts were awarded a penalty in injury time when Jordan Roberts was fouled in the penalty area. Walker's spot-kick was saved by Cowdenbeath keeper Sinclair. 

The third section game was at home to Raith Rovers. Given the game was live on Premier Sports I did not see it live but saw the goal highlights later. It was some match to miss given that Craig Wighton scored his first competitive gaols for Hearts since signing in 2018. He scored all three gaols albeit two were from the penalty spot with the other goal was an excellent run from halfway with a fine finish. I always thought Wighton was a good finisher but he seemed to have lost that art since joining Hearts. Maybe the Championship is more his level than the SPL. The game was also notable for Hearts fielding a number of young players including Harry Cochrane who made an appearance prior to departing on loan to Montrose. The final section game was some four weeks later away to East Fife. Hearts were without Craig Gordon, Michael Smith and Liam Boyce who were away on international duty. This did not see to matter as Olly Lee scored twice in the first two minutes to put Hearts 2-0 ahead. East Fife pulled a goal back before half-time and then Andy Irving scored a third for Hearts before a goal from East Fife's Ryan Wallace, a former Hearts youth player, lead to a nervous finish. I watched the game of East Fife TV where the guest pundit was their former player Steven Hislop. He now runs an opticians business at Marchmont in Edinburgh and from his commentary seems to retain a fondness for the East Fife side.

hearts were a seeded side and were drawn against Championship rivals Alloa Athletic in the first of teh knock-out rounds. Hearts had defeated Alloa 3-0 in the league in mid-week but the cup-tie was a different story. Hearts lost Halkett to injury during the arm-up and were forced to bring in Christphe Berra with only eight potential substitutes remaining on the bench. Despite having most of the game Hearts were unable to score and the match went into extra time. with eleven minutes remaining Walker brought down Alloa's Robert Thomson on the edge of the penalty box and the referee awarded a penalty kick to the home side. Alan Trouten slotted home the award and despite pressing forward Hearts were unable to equalise and were out of the tournament. This was Alloa’s first victory over Hearts since the Victory Cup in 1946. I did attend a Scottish Cup at Alloa in the early 1980’s which was abandoned at halftime due to fog with Hearts 1-0 down. I was also at the re-arranged game the following midweek where Hearts won 1-0. 

Scottish Cup 2019/2020

While Hearts had been relegated as a result of the SPFL calling the leagues while there were still matches to be played this did not apply to last seasons Scottish Cup. The SFA who run the Scottish Cup decided that the 2019/20 competition would be completed in 2020/21. This meant that the TV deals which had been agreed with both the BBC and Premier Sports to show cup-ties live could be fulfilled. The decision made a mockery of the rules which 'cup-tie' players who have played for another club earlier in the competition. The SFA decided that any players who had signed for the competing teams in 2020/21 could play for this club in the completion of the 2019/20 tournament. This meant both Craig Gordon and Andy Halliday who were in the squads of Celtic and Rangers last season could play for Hearts to complete the 2019/2020 tournament. Hearts had knocked out Rangers to reach the semi-finals and were drawn against Hibs. The tie had originally been scheduled to be played at Hampden at season and was re-arranged for October 2020 at the same stadium. Given the match was over six months ago I have used the BBC Sport report as a basis for this report.

History appeared to favour Hearts. Despite last season's struggles, they won the most recent meeting at Easter Road. They also triumphed in the last Scottish Cup duel in 2018, won the last semi-final between the pair 4-0 in 2006 and, of course, thumped their Edinburgh rivals 5-1 in the 2012 final - the last time they met at a neutral venue. But Hibs are a division higher, had lost just once in nine games, and had not conceded in three. They walked into Hampden as favourites and, in the first 30 minutes, the big chances fell their way.

Kyle Magennis had a goal-bound shot blocked. Then Martin Boyle's cross was met perfectly by Nisbet, only for goalkeeper Craig Gordon to stick his left hand out and deny him. This was thefirst of several excellent stops from the Hearts keeper and showed his value to the team.Olly Lee and Jamie Walker had half chances for Hearts, but it was Hibs who looked more dangerous as the game wore on. They had Hearts pinned back, Boyce having to clear off his own line at one point.

But Hearts turned the game round on the hour. Neilson made a double change bringing on Steven Naissmith and Peter Haring for Jamie Walker and Jordon Roberts. Craig Wighton was pushed further forward further forward, and within minutes was rewarded when the attacker met Lee's cross at the far post to put Hears ahead. But just as Hibs fans thought this was going to be another Hampden derby horror show, Doidge rose highest at a free-kick to loop in a header and restore parity. Lee placed the ball into the path of Wighton, who could have scored a second but instead sent it wide. Doidge played a poor pass in a good position. Hearts romped forward but Boyce trundled a low shot wide.And, in the dying seconds of normal time, Hibs were left furious when Doidge and Boyle both hit the deck in the box. Referee Willie Collum instead awarded a free-kick to Hearts.

Into extra time it went with Hibs starting on the front foot. Alex Gogic's shot was awkward for Gordon, who parried it on to a post. And he again had to be alert when Joe Newell's shot took a deflection.More drama was coming. Newell threw himself to the floor and earned Hibs a penalty despite there appearing to be little contact from Mihai Popescu. But Nisbet cracked his penalty against the crossbar.Then, within minutes, Hearts got a penalty of their own when Aidy White was fouled by Paul McGinn just inside the penalty box on the left. Boyce made no mistake, thumping it home. Doidge's acrobatic overhead kick forced another great save from Gordon as Hibs refused to give it up, but Hearts held on for yet another famous Hampden win over their old foes.

The final was also played without fans, again at Hampden, against Celtic on 20th December 2020. It was the first time I had missed seeing Hearts play in a Cup Final since 1968 when they lost to Dunfermline. Celtic had won the Treble in Scotland, SPL, Scottish Cup and League Cup, for the past three seasons. They had already won the SPL and league Cup for 2019/20 alit the SPL was awarded before all matches had been completed. I am sure that part of the reason  that the Scottish Cup was played to a finish was to allow Celtic the chance of a quadruple treble.I settled down in front of the television to watch the game on BBC with the help of a bottle of chianti to calm the nerves. 

The first half was a horror show as Celtic strolled through the game and dominated the play. Hearts however had the first chance with Steven Naismith's toe-poking the ball  past Conor Hazard After the 22-year-old goalkeeper hesitated coming for a through ball However the ball slithered  wide of the gaping empty goalmouth. Ryan Christie put Celtic ahead when Hearts gave the Scotland midfielder too much time to make a run to the edge of the penalty box. He then fired a stunning drive into the far corner for a trademark Christie finish. It looked to be all over within 30 minutes as referee John Beaton pointed to the spot after Christophe Berra's wayward hand touched the ball in a crowded goalmouth.  Edouard’s penalty was a cheeky, chipped penalty left former team-mate Craig Gordon looking both angry and embarrassed.

However, Hearts regrouped after the break and the game turned when Boyce rose to head home former Rangers midfielder Andy Halliday's cross. Hazard came to Celtic's rescue to save from Ginnelly after a mix-up between Shane Duffy and Christopher Jullien, but when the goalkeeper flapped at the winger's subsequent corner, Christie was unable to prevent Kingsley's header crossing the line. The goal was confirmed by goal-line technology which was being used for the first time in a Scottish Cup final. At this stage I was almost going completely off my head and the chianti was going down very well. I hate to think what our neighbours must have thought. 

The match move into extra time and Celtic looked to have won it substitute striker Leigh Griffiths thumped home after goalkeeper Gordon blocked Scott Brown's header. The fact that two ex-Hibs players combined for this goal made it even more disappointing to Hearts fans. However, when Hazard failed to gather a free-kick inside a packed penalty box, Ginnelly finished from Kingsley's header across goal to send the game into a penalty shoot-out. 

hearts went first in the shoot out with Naismith and Michael Smiths successful kicks being match by Celtics Griffiths and McGregor. Olly Lee then then scored for Hearts and Gordon's save from Christie put Hearts 3-2 ahead. At this stage I thought the cup was coming back to Tynecastle. However both Wighton and Kingsley had their penalties saved by Hazard while Johnson and Ajer scored for Celtic to give them the cup. Given both Hearts payers who missed were what would be considered dead-ball specialists the final result was really disappointing. I switched off the television as I could not watch Celtic celebrating although Hearts had given them an excellent game. yes the result was devastating but the performance showed that Hearts had a team that were capable of competing in the SPL. 

Scottish Cup 2021/2022

I really don't want to have to write this but for sake of completeness will have to. Hearts were drawn against the winners of the second round tie between Camelon and Brora Rangers in the third round of the Scottish Cup. Brora won that tie just before all football below the Scottish Championship was again shut-down fron 12th January due to the Covid pandemic. The rationale behind the decision was that below the Championship level teams were generally part-time and players had the chance of catching the virus in their day job and then spreading it amongst there team-mates. Full-time teams would operate within a 'bubble' and there would be less chance of catching the virus externally and spreading it among team mates. The shutdown was lifted to allow part-time sides to fulfil their Scottish Cup obligations and Hearts eventually travelled to Brora on 23rd March. At this stage Brora had returned to training for two weeks and played one friendly match the previous Saturday. Hearts travelled with Craig Gordon and Michael Smith who were on international duty with Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively. Liam Boyce had also been included in the Irish squad but was released as his wife had recently given birth. The Irish management gave permission for Boyce to play for Hearts despite his withdrawal from their squad. I settled down to watch a live stream of the match on Brora TV which featured an interesting pre-match interview with Hearts Gary Mackay-Steven. Mackay-Steven was born in Thurso and started his footballing career in the Highlands with Ross County.

The game itself was a disaster. Despite starting well, they fell behind to a great strike from Jordan MacRae, who sent a fine finish into the top corner past Ross Stewart.Hearts huffed and puffed for the remainder of the half but struggled to really threaten their opponents, who hadn't played a competitive game for two months.

They looked to have had a rocket at half-time when they came out at the start of the second half with Armand Ganduillet forcing a good save from Joe Malin.He produced a fine stop to keep out Craig Halkett's header before the pressure finally told and Christophe Berra shot home from close range. However, Hearts immediately reverted to type, letting Brora go up the pitch and Aidy White conceded a needless free-kick.Stewart made a mess of the cross ball and that allowed Martin MacLean to fire home at the back post and re-establish Brora's lead.

I have seen Hearts losing games to lower league opposition in the past. Forfar in the 1980's and Montrose in the 90s spring to mind but being defeated by a Highland League side must be the worst result in Hearts history. All credit to Brora but from the coverage I watched no one in the Hearts side could deserve pass marks. A truly shocking performance.

Championship

A summary of Hearts Championship results is attached below. Thanks to London Hearts website for the information provided there.

Date	Venue	Opposition	Score	Scorers
Fri, 16 Oct 2020	H	Dundee	6-2	Michael Smith 4 ;Josh Ginnelly 25 ;Liam Boyce pen 34 ;Stephen Kingsley 45 ;Stephen Kingsley 84 ;Andy Halliday 90
				Charlie Adam 27;Daniel Mullen 68
Fri, 23 Oct 2020	A	Arbroath	1-0	Craig Wighton 70
Sat, 7 Nov 2020	H	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	2-1	Steven Naismith 47 ;Liam Boyce 70
				Aaron Doran 86
Fri, 20 Nov 2020	A	Dunfermline Athletic	1-2	Stephen Kingsley 84
				Dominic Thomas 49 ;Euan Murray 54
Tue, 24 Nov 2020	H	Alloa Athletic	3-0	Michael Smith 6 ;Andy Halliday 24 ;Peter Haring 37
Sat, 5 Dec 2020	A	Greenock Morton	2-0	Jamie Walker 37 ;Jamie Walker 48
Sat, 12 Dec 2020	H	Queen of the South	6-1	Steven Naismith 20 ;Liam Boyce 45 ;Liam Boyce 46 ;Jamie Walker 76 ;Elliott Frear 82 ;Josh Ginnelly 91
				Ayo Obileye 72
Sat, 26 Dec 2020	H	Ayr United	5-3	Stephen Kingsley 11 ;Craig Wighton 68 ;Olly Lee 71 ;Craig Wighton 74 ;Liam Boyce 81
				Cameron Smith 57 ;Luke McCowan 60 ;Tom Walsh 94
Sun, 20 Dec 2020	H	Arbroath	3-1	Steven Naismith 30 ;Steven Naismith 33 ;Steven Naismith pen 36
				Kris Doolan 48
Sat, 2 Jan 2021	A	Dundee	1-3	Andy Irving 56
				Jordan McGhee 14;Daniel Mullen 36 ;Jonathan Afolabi pen 84
Sat, 16 Jan 2021	A	Alloa Athletic	3-1	Andy Irving 35 ;Elliott Frear 45 ;Josh Ginnelly 93
				Kevin Cawley 87
Sat, 23 Jan 2021	H	Raith Rovers	2-3	Liam Boyce 58 ;Liam Boyce 93
				Gozie Ugwu 4 ;Manny Duku pen 47 ;Reghan Tumilty 53
Tue, 26 Jan 2021	A	Raith Rovers	4-0	Liam Boyce 36 ;Euan Henderson 39 ;Armand Gnanduillet 84 ;Armand Gnanduillet 91
Sat, 30 Jan 2021	H	Dunfermline Athletic	1-0	Jamie Walker 81
Fri, 5 Feb 2021	A	Ayr United	1-0	Liam Boyce pen 48
Fri, 12 Feb 2021	A	Queen of the South	1-1	Liam Boyce pen 90
				Ayo Obileye pen 43
Sat, 20 Feb 2021	H	Greenock Morton	1-1	Jamie Walker 71
				Craig McGuffie 53
Fri, 26 Feb 2021	A	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	1-1	Liam Boyce 36
				Miles Storey 10
Sat, 6 Mar 2021	H	Dundee	2-1	Andy Halliday 35 ;Armand Gnanduillet 58
				Jason Cummings pen 63
Sat, 13 Mar 2021	H	Ayr United	2-0	Armand Gnanduillet 72 ;Jamie Walker 86
Sat, 20 Mar 2021	A	Arbroath	0-0
Sat, 27 Mar 2021	H	Queen of the South	2-3	Mihai Popescu 34 ;Armand Gnanduillet 72
				Connor Shields 16 ;Connor Shields 22 ;Irving Andrew og 82
Sun, 4 Apr 2021	A	Dunfermline Athletic	0-0
Fri, 9 Apr 2021	H	Alloa Athletic	6-0	Liam Boyce 26 ;Liam Boyce pen 32 ;Euan Henderson 51 ;Liam Boyce 53 ;Aaron McEneff 71 ;Jamie Walker 88
Tue, 20 Apr 2021	A	Greenock Morton	0-0
Sat, 24 Apr 2021	H	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	3-0	Gary Mackay-Steven 6 ;Aaron McEneff 9 ;Gary Mackay-Steven 31
Fri, 30 Apr 2021	A	Raith Rovers	4-0	Gary Mackay-Steven 11 ;Euan Henderson 57 ;Steven Naismith 70 ;Gary Mackay-Steven 73

The season started well for Hearts with only one defeat in the first round of nine matches. During that period they were playing some lovely football and scoring goals almost for fun. The first match against Dundee at Tynecastle was televised live on the BBC Scotland channel and Hearts showed that they were genuine contenders for the league title against the side expected to be their closest rivals. This was followed by another televised match at Arbroath where Craig Wighton scored the only goal of the game. However there was a downside to the win in that Josh Ginnelly pulled a muscle arly on and would be out of action for a while. A win followed against Inverness in a close game followed by a defeat at Dunfermline. This was again televised by Hearts did not play well and seemed to be harried out of the game but a strong running and hard tackling Dunfermline side. There then followed a run of five victories with nineteen goals scored. The downside was the 5-3 victory against Ayr which showed the defence was not as srong as many anticipated.

During the January transfer window Hearts signed three new players, striker Armand Gnanduillet (previously with Altay in Turkey), winger Gary Mackay-Steven (New York City) and midfielder Aaron McEneff (Shamrock Rovers). All three had good track records with Gnanduillet having top scored at Blackpool last season. Mackay-Steven a former Scottish International and McEneff a former Spurs youth player on the fringes of the Republic of Ireland international side. Gervane Kastaneer was also signed on a loan till the end of the season. The winger was disappointing, to say the least, in his time at Tynecastle. Both Olly Lee and Craig Wighton moved away on to loan to Gillingham and Dunfermline. The players contracts were expiring at the end of the season and Hearts would not been renewing their deals so the players moved out on loan to the clubs where they had signed pre-contract agreements for next season. Andrew Irving's contract also expired at the end of the season and he had turned down the first new contract offer although negotiations were continuing. 

I don't know if it was because it took ime for the new players to settle in or if it was just an overall loss of form/confidence but the second round of fixtures was a big disappointment. The round started with another televised game against Dundee this time at Dens Park. Hearts were two behind at halftime before Irving pulled a goal back from a free-kick. A late penalty clinched a 3-1 victory for the home side against a struggling Hearts tea. After a routine victory away to Alloa Hearts then faced Raith Rovers at Tynecastle in another poor performance. Raith had been promoted after the previous season was ended but were expected to struggle in the Champonship. Under former Hearts Manager John McGlynn this did not happen and they were contenders for a play-off position throughout the season. Hearts went 1-0 down after five minutes and before half-time Regan Hendry had a penalty saved by Gordon. A second penalty from Manny Duku just after half-time put Raith 2-0 ahead and Reghan Tumilty added a third at the hour mark.  Robbie Neilson received a red card after the match for his protests to the referee about a possible handball at this goal but the stream did not show any clear evidence to back his assertions. Liam Boyce pulled back two goals, the second in injury time, but Raith were worthy winners. There then followed a run of five games where Hearts scored a grand total of five goals. Thankfully the first two against Dunfermline and Ayr were both 1-0 victories with Walker scoring against Dunfermline and a Boyce penalty defeating Ayr. The three 1-1 drws which followed were all against lower ranked teams and the standard and style of football was uninspired at best. I don't know if the attitude of the players was wrong or everyone had hit a bad run of form at the same time but the three matches, against Queen of The South, Morton and Inverness,  were painful to watch.

The final round of fixtures began with home victories over Dundee and Ayr before things went downhill again. A tUrgid 0-0 draw at Abroath was followed by an awful home performance against Queen of the South. QOS were 2-0 up after twenty-two minutes with both goals coming from Connor Shields. Hearts fought back and goals from Popescu and Gnanduillet brought them level half-way through the second half. However with eight minutes left Andrew Irving knocked a cross into his own net to give QOS their first win over Hearts sine 1963. My freind Alex is a fanatical QOS fan and had never seen them beat Hearts. He still hasn't as thankfully there were no fans inside Tynecastle to watch this awful performance. Another 0-0 draw followed at Dunfermline with Hearts being lucky to take a point given Dunfermline made the better scoring chances throughout the match. Next up was Alloa at Tyneastle with the match being notable for the first starting appearance of John Souttar after over a year out through injury. He strolled comfortably through the game as Hearts notched a 6-0 victory, highlights by a Craig Boyce hat-trick. The match had been scheduled to be shown live on BBC Scotland but was cancelled due to the death of Prince Philip the same day. However the game was available on Hearts TV and the following day Hearts clinched the Championship after both Dundee and Raith Rovers failed to win. The following midweek Hearts drew 0-0 at Morton in another dull game. The result was notable in that Hearts had now drawn five away league matches in a row for the first time in their history. The season ended with two big wins 3-0 at him to Inverness and 4-0 away to Raith. Gary Mackay-Steven scored twice in each match and at last liked like the class player Hearts thought they were signing. Hearts finished twelve points head of runners-up Dundee at the top of the table but performances were far from convincing and a big improvement will be required in the SPL next season.

During the last few weeks of the season it was announced that defender Christophe Berra would not be offered a new contract while Harry Cochrane had turned down a contract renewal offer. I felt a lot of sympathy for Berra who had been an excellent player for Hearts across two spells at the club. I think he lost a bit of pace following a bad injury in 2018 when he maybe came back too soon to help out the team. It was later announced that he had signed a pre-contract agreement with Raith Rovers to stay in the Championship next season. Cochrane too had been an excellent player when he first broke into the side. However he suffered from injury and his lack of physicality and could not get a regular first team place. I hope he picks up a decent club and that Hearts receive a development fee for their part in his progress to a first team place. At the end of May it was announced that Aidy White, Zdenek Zlamal, Elliott Frear, Lewis Moore, Colin Doyle, Sean Ward and Leeroy Makovora would also be leaving on expiry of their current contracts. None of these departures were a great surprise and this would leave space in the squad to sign up new faces for next season. 

Two other departures were announced later. Andy Irving moved to German 3rd division side Turkgucu Munchen after turning down a new deal from Hearts. A development fee will be paid to hearts by the German side. Steven Naismith also announced his retiral from playing and accepted an offer to act a Player Performance Manager to assist in developing young players for the first team. Both players were among Hearts better performers and will be sorely missed on the field.