View from the Pods

In each programme, we’ll hear the views of one of the many Hearts-related podcasts available to download. This week, its Alan Scrimgeour of the Since I Was Young podcast

We are currently sitting third in the league, behind the Old Firm. From the outside looking in, a ‘newly promoted’ side sitting third in the table would be viewed as very strong start. At face value, that is exactly what it is. Factor in that we began with a run of 11 games without tasting defeat, that adds further sparkle to the stats sheets.

But let’s dig a little deeper. Hearts have played 12 fixtures this season, 5 wins and 6 draws, and (sadly) 1 loss.

Wins against Celtic ten men St Mirren, Dundee United, Livingston & Motherwell with the added bonus of playing well and controlling games was something that really stood out for me. Robbie Neilson implemented the 3-4-3 system at the back end of the Championship season and we were delighted to see it brought into the new campaign. It quite simply makes the best of the players that we currently have. Defensively we look far more solid; this is of course helped by having Scotland’s number 1 keeper in goal. Cochrane and Smith working the wide areas effectively whilst Devlin and Beni provide an engine room the like of which us fans have not witnessed for many a year. Their energy, drive and enthusiasm are infectious.

Now, let’s look at the games we’ve drawn; Aberdeen, Hibs, Ross County, Rangers, Dundee and St Johnstone. Again, taking these at face value, draws against Aberdeen, Hibs and Rangers and (factoring in our poor record in Perth) St Johnstone are acceptable points to pick up, However, reflecting on some of those games, there is more of a feeling of points dropped rather than points gained. A draw against Rangers at Ibrox felt more like a win due to the nature of the game and how hard we worked for it. Our cause was absolutely aided by the fact the Rangers forward line left their shooting boots at home. Now it’s time to put my negative hat on and bring up the draws that we absolutely should have won against Ross County and Dundee. In both of those games, we controlled possession and have been the better side. The frustration comes when you see that County and Dundee are the bottom two in the league and both had been struggling for form prior to coming up against us. There is an annoyingly familiar pattern in some of these draws. Domination on the stats sheet, the so called “total football”, means absolutely nothing if you can’t capitalise and turn the chances created into goals. It is refreshing, however, to hear noises from the dressing room that these draws are absolutely not the standards that have been set.

Indeed, it was on Saturday October 30th that we were to

taste defeat for the first time this campaign. We started reasonably well, Gnanduillet leading the line in the continued absence of Boyce. Aberdeen however, have had somewhat of a resurgence in recent weeks and their confidence soon came through with the first goal. Poor defending allowed Watkins to rifle in a half volley that even Gordon couldn’t stop. Souttar’s penalty just before the break brought us somewhat luckily level though. I have to be honest; the second half was average at best from the boys in maroon. Scott Brown up to his usual tricks allowed Lewis Ferguson to beat Beni to the ball and give Aberdeen a win that, being honest, without Craig Gordon in goal, would have been greater than just one goal. So there we have it. 12 games in at the time of writing. 5 wins, 6 draws and 1 loss. Third in the table. Now let’s look at the “key” players. Liam Boyce is our top goal scorer by a distance with 11 goals, Gary Mackay-Steven comes in second with 3. That in itself highlights a concern. We saw against St Johnstone with Boyce missing due to a thigh knock, that meant Gnanduillet was trusted to lead the line. Now I am a fan of the big Frenchman, I have said multiple times that I like how he gives us a different outlet, but as we have mentioned countless times on our podcast, the two forwards have totally different profiles, you cannot simply swap one for the other and expect the same results. Do we have an over-reliance on Boyce? Judging by his goal contribution and that of his teammates around him, I can’t say no. We need to see more from the wide players in terms of goals. Their all-round game is solid and we are being treated to some enjoyable football to watch, but it would be all the more enjoyable if we were more clinical in the final third when chances present themselves.

To sum up, am I happy that we are third as we speak? Absolutely. I’m not picking faults because I am unhappy, I am picking faults out of frustration. The first quarter of the season is behind us and we have had a very solid start. If someone had said to me before a ball was kicked that this is where we would be 12 games in, I would have absolutely taken it. We do however need to be careful; recent form has slowed down the positive momentum that was built up from the winning start we made. Any further negative results could see us slip down towards the rest, rather than trying to keep pace with the two at the top. I guess that’s what being a supporter of the rollercoaster that is Heart of Midlothian is all about, and I for one wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you would like to listen to our podcast, you can find myself Alan and my co-host Ewen on Since I Was Young Podcast on YouTube. Check out our social medias, Instagram, Twitter & Facebook - all @siwypod if you fancy joining our community.

The biggest controversy as the 2021-22 season kicked-off in the Lowland League was the introduction of Colt teams from both Rangers and Celtic. Clubs had voted 12-5 in favour of admitting the Old Firm youngsters with one abstention. This is to be a one season only arrangement with neither club eligible for promotion, although results will count towards the final standings. Should either club finish top, then the best

IN A NON-LEAGUE

OF THEIR OWN Graeme McGinty Photography: Fiona McGinty

placed non-Colt team will enter the play-offs with the West and South of Scotland leagues for a place in the SPFL. Both Glasgow teams paid £25,000 to the league to sweeten the deal.

This move caused considerable consternation in many areas of the game, not least the East and West of Scotland leagues who pointed out that any new entrants to the Lowland League should be promoted from the tier below under the Pyramid system, and that currently the Lowland League only offered one promotion spot to these leagues. The issue will rumble on as the SFA are yet to pass the rule amendments to formally allow the Colt teams to play in the league, despite the season having already started. Colt/Reserve teams at this level aren’t a new phenomenon; both Hearts and Hibs have fielded “Colt” teams in the past in the East of Scotland League, and we’ll cover that in a future article.

Bonnyrigg Rose - managed by exJambo Robbie Horn - East Kilbride and East Stirlingshire were many people’s favourites to claim the top “non-Colt” spot before the season began, and the first of

those are currently leading the way. Meanwhile East Kilbride have had a slow start and may already be struggling to mount a title challenge with Spartans and - surprisingly - Civil Service Strollers emerging as the main contenders to the Midlothian club.

Meanwhile Rangers and Celtic Colts have made a steady start and both will be at the top end of the table come the end of the season. Rangers are playing out of Dumbarton in front of crowds of a few hundred, but they do appear to be a big attraction when on their travels with an attendance into four figures when recently visiting Bonnyrigg’s New Dundas Park. The problem with the introduction of Colt teams and their results counting towards final placings is that their line-ups are rarely consistent, particularly during international breaks when there may be a large number of players away on international duty at different age levels, to the good fortune of the team due to play either of them at that time.

At the other end of the table, Vale of Leithen are hot favourites for the drop. It’s been a tough few seasons for the club from Innerleithen and if the worse does happen, the East of Scotland Premier will not be any easier for them as Whitehill Welfare have been finding out. Calum Elliot’s Tranent Juniors, and Penicuik Athletic, have been leading the way in the East of Scotland Premier all season. Big spending Tranent were most people’s favourites to finish top but the Cuikie have been keeping pace with them all season and that will probably continue. Linlithgow Rose have spent a few seasons going through managers on a regular basis in an attempt to find the right formula and the most recent gaffer in the hot seat, Gordon Herd, appears to have steadied the ship at Prestonfield and they seem capable of closing the gap at the top should the top two start dropping points. With 18 clubs needing to be reduced to 16 for next season, the bottom four in the Premier are guaranteed to be relegated, and depending on circumstances with relegation/promotion between the SPFL and the Lowland League, fifth bottom could also drop out. Early indications are that Newtongrange Star and Whitehill Welfare will need to dig deep to survive, with any number of clubs above them candidates for the drop. It’ll certainly be nip and tuck all season long. The winners of First Division Conferences A and B will be promoted to the Premier. The next 5 or 6 clubs in both Conferences, along with those relegated from the Premier, will form a new 16 team First Division below the Premier next season.

THE FINAL WORD

Scott Cockburn

So, the unbeaten run comes to an end. Ultimately at Pittodrie the lack of cutting edge that had seen us drop points versus Dundee and St Johnstone really hit home and we weren’t able to trouble a rejigged Aberdeen after the break. Those old enough to remember back to 1986 (shudder) will recall that, sadly, unbeaten runs are no guarantee of success but I think we can be reasonably happy with the results thus far.

Perhaps even more frustrating than defeat - which we can pragmatically accept especially when not playing well – is a draw. The move to make it three points for a win – also a number of years ago – was welcomed but equally it suddenly meant not losing was two points dropped. Had we won one and lost one of the two most recent draws we’d actually be better off.

So, sometimes draws are the worst. Not all draws obviously. At Ibrox a last-minute equalizer felt like a win but we saw the other side of the coin in the next two matches. Despite dominating we couldn’t find a second goal and the frustration was both understandable and no doubt shared or even amplified by the players. Even so, it says a lot about the expectations at Hearts that going top-of-the-league after the Dundee game was met with a sprinkle of boos. The following midweek that same Dundee team spectacularly (and let’s be honest, amusingly) lost 5-0 at home to Ross County. Using the old playground logic that means Hearts must be rubbish? Well not quite. Robbie Neilson would no doubt be quick to tell you that teams playing Hearts often raise their game (even if occasionally they haven’t actually had to!) So, Dundee coming to Tynecastle have a different attitude to when they trot out against Ross County at Dens. It promptly worked in reverse with St Johnstone losing 3-0 to Livingston on the Saturday but then happily matching up to Hearts four days later. The truth is, it’s a bit of a mixedup League at the moment. No side is truly hitting consistent top-form and good results are often followed by disappointing ones. So, today’s match – a hopefully lucky 13th League fixture of the season – gives us an opportunity to make an immediate recovery. Regardless, there is room for development but we shouldn’t suddenly go from criticising the team for losing at

Brora (shudder #2) to doing the same because we fail to match Rangers or Celtic point-for-point. Progress is being made and there will be dips, frustrations, peaks and celebrations to follow but thus far it’s been promising and hopefully there is more to come. Get with the Programme I suppose if you are seeing this then you are already someone who buys or at least reads the Hearts programme. So, writing to converted as it were. However, in the last few weeks we’ve seen programmes in the news with Hibs’ decision to stop producing them after almost a century. Although unrelated the subsequent launch of their cryptocurrency scheme is a reminder, as if needed, that the world is ever-more moving online. Yet, as a long-term reader of, and now writer for, the programme I’d like to think there still a place for the printed word. There seems to be a fixation that programmes are irrelevant because you no longer have to look up the teams or use the programme to de-code the letters on the half-time scoreboard. Yet that hasn’t been the function of a programme for 30 or 40 years. Instead, programmes have evolved into journals with a variety of articles and ultimately serving a less functional but complimentary purpose. That shouldn’t be their undoing though. Like all of the writers for the Hearts’ programme we are fans first and foremost and enjoy writing and sharing our thoughts, experience and knowledge of our wonderful football club. Those writings then come together into a programme and whilst not so for everyone for many it remains the single, tangible souvenir of a match.

Recently, my son and I were able to take in the eclectic delights of Fleetwood Town versus Burton Albion in League One. There was no programme, the tickets were on my phone and in fact the stadium was ‘cashless’. Leaving without a programme as a souvenir and memory of the occasion slightly lessened it for me. “We’ll always have Fleetwood” you might say but it’s surely enhanced by a physical reminder of the game to look back with?

So, readers, keep the faith, keep buying Edinburgh’s foremost football programme and we’ll commit to being here for your entertainment. (Or something like it anyway.)

FIRST TEAM RESULTS

SEASON 2021 -2022

DATE OPPONENT ATT F A LINE UP

Sat July 10 Peterhead (LC) 246 2-0 Gordon M Smith A Cochrane d Souttar Halkett Kingsley Haring Tues July 13 Cove Rangers (LC) 1983 3-0 Gordon M Smith A Cochrane Souttar Halkett Kingsley b Ginnelly c Tues July 20 Stirling Albion (LC) 211 2-0 Gordon M Smith A Cochrane e Souttar Halkett Kingsley Ginnelly b Sun July 25 Inverness CT (LC) 2989 1-0 Gordon M Smith A Cochrane Halkett Halliday a Kingsley Ginnelly Sat July 31 Celtic 5272 2-1 Gordon M Smith A Cochrane Souttar Halkett Kingsley Ginnelly b

Sat Aug 7 St Mirren 1039 2-1 Gordon M Smith Halliday Souttar Halkett A Cochrane Ginnelly a Sun Aug 15 Celtic (LC) 42361 2-3 Gordon M Smith A Cochrane c Souttar Halkett Kingsley Halliday a Sun Aug 22 Aberdeen 17449 1-1 Gordon M Smith Halliday a Souttar Halkett A Cochrane Ginnelly c Sat Aug 28 Dundee Utd 9324 2-0 Gordon M Smith Halliday c Souttar Halkett A Cochrane Woodburn a Sun Sep 12 Hibs 18177 0-0 Gordon M Smith b A Cochrane Souttar Halkett Kingsley Woodburn c Sat Sep 18 Ross County 3802 2-2 Gordon T Moore Kingsley Souttar Baningime Halkett McKay Sat Sep 25 Livingston 16175 3-0 Gordon M Smith Kingsley b T Moore Baningime Halkett d McKay c

Sat Oct 2 Motherwell 17028 2-0 Gordon M Smith Kingsley T Moore Baningime Halkett a McKay c

Sat Oct 16 Rangers 49650 1-1 Gordon M Smith Kingsley Souttar Baningime Halkett McKay c Sat Oct 23 Dundee 17557 1-1 Gordon M Smith Kingsley Souttar Baningime Halkett McKay c Wed Oct 27 St Johnstone 6083 1-1 Gordon M Smith Kingsley Souttar Baningime Halkett Ginnelly a Sat Oct 30 Aberdeen 9736 1-2 Gordon M Smith A Cochrane c Souttar pen Halkett Kingsley Ginnelly a

Sat Nov 6 Dundee Utd Sat Nov 20 Motherwell Sat Nov 27 St Mirren Wed Dec 1 Celtic

Sat Dec 4 Livingston Sun Dec 12 Rangers Sat Dec 18 Dundee

Sun Dec 26 Ross County Wed Dec 29 St Johnstone Sun Jan 2 Hibs Wed Jan 26 Celtic Sat Jan 29 Motherwell

Sat Feb 5 Rangers Wed Feb 9 Dundee Sat Feb 19 St Johnstone

Sat Feb 26 St Mirren Wed Mar 2 Aberdeen

Sat Mar 5 Dundee Utd Sat Mar 19 Livingston

Sat Apr 2 Ross County

Sat Apr 9 Hibs

SUBSTITUTES

McEneff bMcEneff b Boyce eBoyce e Ginnelly aGinnelly a M-Steven cM-Steven c WalkerWalker PollockPollock RobertsRoberts HallidayHalliday HendersonHenderson Halliday dHalliday d BoyceBoyce Pollock aPollock a M-Steven eM-Steven e McEneffMcEneff HaringHaring HendersonHenderson C SmithC Smith DenholmDenholm

HallidayHalliday Boyce dBoyce d Haring aHaring a M-Steven cM-Steven c GnanduilletGnanduillet PollockPollock WalkerWalker McEneffMcEneff C SmithC Smith

Pollock bPollock b BoyceBoyce Gnanduillet cGnanduillet c M-StevenM-Steven HaringHaring WalkerWalker HendersonHenderson

BaningimeBaningime BoyceBoyce HallidayHalliday M-Steven aM-Steven a HaringHaring GnanduilletGnanduillet

BaningimeBaningime Boyce cBoyce c Haring Haring M-Steven bM-Steven b GnanduilletGnanduillet McEneffMcEneff HendersonHenderson

BaningimeBaningime Boyce penBoyce pen Haring bHaring b M-Steven M-Steven Ginnelly Ginnelly McEneffMcEneff WalkerWalker

BaningimeBaningime Boyce penBoyce pen Haring bHaring b M-Steven bM-Steven b WalkerWalker McEneffMcEneff HendersonHenderson

BaningimeBaningime BoyceBoyce HaringHaring M Steven bM Steven b Ginnelly Ginnelly GnanduilletGnanduillet T MooreT Moore

BaningimeBaningime BoyceBoyce HaringHaring M Steven aM Steven a Ginnelly Ginnelly T MooreT Moore McKayMcKay Woodburn bWoodburn b BoyceBoyce Gnanduillet Gnanduillet M Steven aM Steven a DevlinDevlin WalkerWalker - -

Woodburn Woodburn Boyce pen aBoyce pen a DevlinDevlin A CochraneA Cochrane GnanduilletGnanduillet HallidayHalliday M-StevenM-Steven HaringHaring Woodburn bWoodburn b Boyce penBoyce pen DevlinDevlin A CochraneA Cochrane HallidayHalliday M StevenM Steven HaringHaring Woodburn aWoodburn a BoyceBoyce DevlinDevlin A Cochrane bA Cochrane b Ginnelly Ginnelly GnanduilletGnanduillet M-StevenM-Steven Woodburn aWoodburn a Boyce bBoyce b DevlinDevlin A CochraneA Cochrane M-StevenM-Steven GnanduilletGnanduillet GinnellyGinnelly

HallidayHalliday GnanduilletGnanduillet DevlinDevlin McKay bMcKay b WoodburnWoodburn M StevenM Steven - -

BaningimeBaningime GnanduilletGnanduillet DevlinDevlin M-Steven bM-Steven b WoodburnWoodburn McKayMcKay HallidayHalliday

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES

13, 24, 28, 2913, 24, 28, 29 13, 20, 28, 2913, 20, 28, 29 13, 22, 28, 2913, 22, 28, 29 8, 27, 28, 34, 35,138, 27, 28, 34, 35,13 8, 22, 27, 38, 138, 22, 27, 38, 13 27, 34, 35, 1327, 34, 35, 13 22, 27, 35, 1322, 27, 35, 13 27, 35, 1327, 35, 13 7, 8, 38, 137, 8, 38, 13 14, 16, 21, 1314, 16, 21, 13 5, 8, 16, 17, 135, 8, 16, 17, 13 7, 8, 137, 8, 13 7, 21, 30, 137, 21, 30, 13 5, 15, 16, 135, 15, 16, 13 5, 15, 16, 135, 15, 16, 13 5, 7, 15, 17, 135, 7, 15, 17, 13 5, 8, 15, 135, 8, 15, 13

58 WWW.HEARTSFC.CO.UK

FIRST TEAM

APPEARANCES 2021/22

PLAYER LEAGUE LEAGUE CUP SFA CUP TOTALS

STARTS SUBS GOALS STARTS SUBS GOALS STARTS SUBS GOALS STARTS SUBS GOALS

Craig GORDON 12 - 4* 5 - 4* - - - 17 - 8* Ross STEWART - - - - - - - - - - - Michael SMITH 11 - 1 5 - - - - - 16 - 1 Cammy LOGAN - - - - - - - - - - - Jamie BRANDON - - - - - - - - - - - Alex COCHRANE (L) 10 - 1 5 - - - - - 15 - 1 Stephen KINGSLEY 9 - 2 5 - - - - - 14 - 2 John SOUTTAR 10 - 3(1 4 - - - - - 14 - 3(1 Andy HALLIDAY 5 3 1 4 1 1 - - - 9 4 2 Craig HALKETT 12 - 1 5 - - - - - 17 - 1 Taylor MOORE (L) 3 2 - - - - - - - 3 2 Peter HARING 4 3 - 3 2 - - - - 7 5 Cammy DEVLIN 6 1 - - - - - - - 6 1 Beni BANINGIME 12 - - 1 - - - - - 13 - Ben WOODBURN (L) 7 2 - - - - - - - 7 2 Scott McGILL $ - - - - - - - - - - - Aaron McENEFF 0 2 - 1 3 1 - - - 1 5 1 Gary MACKAY-STEVEN 7 5 1 5 - 2 - - - 12 5 3 Barrie McKAY 6 2 - - - - - - - 6 2 Jamie WALKER 0 2 - 0 4 1 - - - 0 6 1 Jordan ROBERTS $ - - - 0 1 - - - - 0 1 Josh GINNELLY 5 4 1 4 1 - - - - 9 5 1 Liam BOYCE 10 - 6(3 5 - 4(1 - - - 15 - 10(4 Armand GNANDUILLET 3 6 1 1 1 - - - - 4 7 1 Euan HENDERSON $ 0 2 - 0 3 - - - - 0 5 Connor SMITH $ - - - 0 2 - - - - 0 2 Finlay POLLOCK - - - 2 2 1 - - - 2 2 1 Aaron DARGE $ - - - - - - - - - - - -

Aidan DENHOLM - - - 0 1 - - - - 0 1 Leon WATSON - - - - - - - - - - - Chris HAMILTON $ - - - - - - - - - - - Mihal POPESCU $ - - - - - - - - - - - Loic DAMOUR $ - - - - - - - - - - - - Totals 132 34 18 55 21 10 - - - 187 55 28

$ Player on loan * Now left Club *Denotes shut out in goals column # Retired as player, now on Development Staff

UMBRO