Bring It On !

Ok, this is the last entry in this blog.
I have just and for the first time, read the blog from start to finish as part of this entry, in which i will attempt to sum up the season.
The first thing i can say about the entries in this blog is ....
Christ i don't half repeat myself alot!
It is clear that -
Rudi used to be brilliant and a lunatic and now he is just pretty good and a lunatic
Fyassas is fantastic but needs a zimmer to get round
Vlad is a mentalist
Vlad is the best thing that has happened to Hearts since, as long as i can remember.

This is now the lull, the limbo between seasons, at least we have the world cup to keep us sane over the next couple of months before it all kicks off again. At least we have another English, latter stage penalty shoot out disaster to look forward to. No Scotland and no likelyhood of there being a Scotland team at any World/Euro cup any time soon, so come on England - make an arse of it again, please!

To start with i have to say that this season was the best i have ever witnessed as a Hearts supporter! If next season comes anywhere near it we can all be delighted once again.
I have season tickets re-newed and just plain can't wait for it to kick off again. More season tickets will be sold so every game next season will be a home support sell out just like this one. OK the capacity in Tynecastle is too low, but 17,000 every week watching Hearts is a higher average since, probably some time in the 70s when the ground could take 30,000. That as much as anything else will ensure that next season will be brilliant.
This was also the most frustrating season i have witnessed - there is a lot of talk about what if's and if only's. I don't buy it myself, if i am really honest ( here i go repeating myself )
This is gospel according to me - regardless of Burley staying or going, we would not have won the league. We would still have drawn 3 or 4 too many away games. Pretty sure we would have been closer to Celtic and the run in would have been much easier but we would still not have done it.
So i am not tearing my hair out at that, the frustration comes from our owners ability to do exactly the most confusing, upsetting and detrimental thing, just at the most confusing, upsetting and detrimental time. The list is almost endless and is enough for a decade of seasons.

I was at the shareholders reception last night in the Gorgie suite under the Gorgie stand, had no idea but part of the Gorgie stand can open up to allow punters in the Gorgie Suite to look out over the pitch - all very Tracy Island and just not the sort of thing you would expect at Tynecastle. Talking to a bloke i was there with he mentioned quite rightly that Hearts had their best season for ages and Rangers had their worst and we still only finished one point above them. More than that, Celtic had one of their poorest teams this season and won it by a country mile. We should all accept that as the case and not get carried away with ourselves - we could have another great season, a brilliant season next year and still finish a load of points behind both of those two bloody teams. Right this minute i would say that it is Rangers who will come back strong next year, Celtic need to do something with their geriatric and abdicating midfield ( excellent ).

Anyroads back to the season just passed.
Here are a few brain dumps

Best Goal
2nd goal against Hibs in the semi final. Just pure genius. Just one second before he hit the ball i knew he was going to curl it in at the near post. Reminded me of another classic, Koeman free kick that knocked England out of some competition about a decade ago. Everyone knew what he was about to do apart from Seaman.

Worst Goal
Tough one this since there haven't been that many, it has to be Celtic's third in the January game at Tynecastle. Worst because i knew it was going to happen and their celebration was just far too vociferous the buggers and it killed us stone dead.

Best Game
Thats a hard one, the semi final has got to take it. The level of capitulation by the sad Hibees was almost painful, na it wasn't it was bloody brilliant. There is only one thing that whacks beating Hibs and that is abject humiliation of Hibs and thats what we got. We will need to do some serious stuff next year if we are to top that. Maybe taking Barca apart at Tynecastle in the champions league will do it.

Worst Game
Weird that a team, which outside of Leith we have beaten 12 - 1, should find themselves able to beat us 4 - 1 inside of Leith? The 2 - 0 at Easter Road, our first defeat of the season was Hearts worst performance of the season and the first sign that we were not superhuman.

Best Player
Controversial here my personal favourite of last season is undoubtedly Takiss Fyassas. He has just brought a level of superior quality to a position that Hearts and most other teams too generally find very hard to do. Left back, when have Hearts ever had a left back who was also a football player? I really liked Gary Naysmith when we had him but he was all pace. More than anyone i think Fyassas represents the step up in stature that the club has emulated this year, just plain great stuff.

Worst Player
Can't imagine what Beslija thinks he is doing for his signing on fee, but Petras needs to take it for being an imposter - not that i have seen that much of him but seriously, get a grip.
Hope both these guys come good next year but i am not holding my breath.

Comedy Moment
There are two stand out stunners this year, the first was the treatment of Andy Walker at a Dundee Utd game in the first half of the season.
It was always going to be something special that topped that - it came ofcourse as the comedy moment of the century, at Hampden park 10 minutes before the kick off of the semi final and has cast in stone the true sexual orientation of all supporters of Hibernian Football Club.
The famous slope at Easter Road was built in intentionally so they could all garden up it!

High Point
Did not last long enough and did not last even to the final whistle unfortunately, but i think the most euphoric moment of the season was being 2 - 0 up and playing Celtic off the park in that first half at Tynecastle on New Years Day - We were actually going to do it for an hour or so anyroads.
There is the cup run ofcourse, the semi and the final etc but there were two other massive high points - the win against Aberdeen to finish second and take the Champions league place. The other was half time against Hibs in the 4 - 1 win, At half time there was definite talk that we could go all the way and take them for 8, it felt great.

Low Point
That dreadful performance and acceptance of defeat to Rangers at Ibrox in December. I was shocked at how easily Rix accepted this as an OK thing to happen. Times had changed i am afraid and not turning up at Ibrox or anywhere else for that matter was no longer acceptable.

Best Performance
Very hard once again given that we have played some blinding football this year, can't keep giving everything to the semi final so here is one from leftfield and i wasn't even at the game.
That mental 2 - 2 draw at Falkirk, one down and down to ten men and playing them off the park and going 2 down against the run of play. We then come back with 2 goals to take a draw and maintain our unbeaten record. Thats a point that got us into the champions league.

Hero
Threw this one in and it is not even a debatable point really. If it were not for Steven Pressley Hearts would have been nowhere this season. He is right up there with all the legends in maroon.

Manager of the Year
So Hearts are so special we get to have our own manager of the year competition. Controversial maybe but I am going to plump for Ivanauskas, because he is the one who brought it home, the cup and the 2nd place. We were also playing with a stride again that was absent during the Rix period. So Ivanauskas is the man.

Vlad's Best Decision
To get rid of Rix before the split and give us a chance of making it this season. Even for Vlad you would think he was aware that more disruption at Tynecastle would be very dangerous - so it was a brave thing to do and he was right to do it.

Vlad's Worst Decision
One that really irks me is allowing the Andy Webster situation to have degenerated into the current impasse. Both for Hearts and for Andy - hopefully he will get a move down South in the summer and can pick his career up again.
There can be no argument tho, bringing Rix to Tynecastle was the biggest mistake Vlad made.
He also made a decision tho to appear on 'Off the Ball' and sing a version of the Hearts song, Vlad, that was a mistake mate!

Best Save
Craig Gordon made a few brilliant saves this season but his save against Rangers in the 1 - 1 draw at Tynecastle was out of this world.

Best Team
Here is the best 11 from the season ( it is pretty obvious really )

Gordon

Neilson Pressley Webster Fyassas

Cesnauskis Hartley Brellier Skacel

Jankauskas Bednar

Worst Team

Take your pick from Dunfermline or Livi, both were shocking. Livi got relegated but probably gave Hearts marginally tougher games than Dunfermline.

So that about wraps it up for 2005 - 2006, all ended on very much a high but christ we took it right to the wire in both cup and league - If it were not for the award of the penalty against Aberdeen or the Robbie Neilson challenge in the cup final the last few entries in this blog may have had a different flavour to the language. Thats football tho and we got the penalty and Robbie Neilson's challenge was pure folklore. So, thats Hearts most successful season for 40 odd years. If you look at the cup wins over time, we now have two wins 8 years apart which is about as successful as we have ever been in cup winning terms.

So all in all being a Jambo has never been so good.

So to the future than, Vlad seems pretty adamant that he has a dream to take Hearts as far as he can take them, including - breaking the Glasgow dominance, domestic championships and european glory. There are many doubters that i know, guys who sometimes appear to have a genuine concern for the well being of one of Scotlands most historic and famous football clubs, sometimes they just want to wind you up. They will use examples like Leeds Utd, once great teams now in dire straits, languishing out of the top league and gizzillions in debt. They will inform us that Vlad is not to be trusted, he could just be in it for the money, he will sell Tynecastle and cash in and leave Hearts sunk. Or he is just using Hearts as a stepping stone to some bigger club and he will eventually get bored with the provincial Jam Tarts and move onto some Euro aristocracy, leaving Hearts again sunk. It is entirely possible that any or all of these could happen but i don't see any real indication that any will so for me Vlad is definitely the man. More than that tho, most of these guys who talk in these terms are curiously supporters of the old firm, there is a sickness over there in the wild west. They have had it good for far too long, if there is one thing that i know deeper and clearer than anything - Football is about ambition, it is about improving and getting better and playing better and bigger teams in better and bigger competitions. If there is a single football club in Scotland or anywhere else for that matter that does not agree that ambition is a fundemental part of a football clubs ethos then they should be drummed out of the game - they don't deserve whatever support they get.

With the backing we have right now and the obvious intent -

For Hearts not to grasp this nettle at this time and make some effort to break the gruesome twosome, to take Scottish football and become the champions of it, then to go on and attempt the same in Europe - as far as they can, that would be a travesty - we must it is our duty.

As someone once said, 'The best way to make a little money out of football is to start with a lot of money'. So why would you, first of all in order to be a chairman of a football club you need to have money, love the game, be passionate about it and not care too much for making loads of money out of it. Anyone looking at that from the outside would see someone who was clearly a mentalist - i rest my case!

I guess i will only be 100% convinced that Vlad had only the good of Heart of Midlothian Football club at heart if and when the new stand is built! For sure, why would you go to those efforts if you did not want to build something bigger and better than what was there before - it would make no sense so that is the acid test for me. When Tynecastle is 25,000 seater stadium filled to capacity every week i will be 100% convinced. This is probably the only failure for Vlad this year, we were meant to know what was happening with the new stand by 31st March this year, did not happen and since then it has all gone a bit quiet and looks like nothing will happen until 2007 at the earliest, so hmmm.

Small point tho but we do need to see something coming together during this coming season.

A couple of new players that will add more quality will also be very welcome before the start of the new season. I figure both Celtic and Rangers will be different and stronger next year so we will need to be also.

Oh yes and one manager would for the whole season might be an idea as well.

HOOOO ON THE JAMBOS

The Scottish Cup Final 2005/2006

Well it's hard to sum up the cup final in a few words other than -

Thank christ for that!


So here is an account of the proceedings.

Organisation at Tynecastle was typically woeful so i had no idea when tickets for buses went on sale, ended up not getting any and had to drive through.
Being a Jambo and not much of a Scotland fan i don't tend to visit the national stadium much, so needed to get directions from http://www.multimap.com/. Have you ever had directions from here and followed them and not got lost? We got lost.
Took exit 15 off the M8, nearly wrote off the car cutting someone up to make the exit. Directions were to turn left onto Castle St, which we did and which took us east all the way to Parkhead. Should have turned right onto Castle St - gmmph. Still plenty off time so when we doubled back and drove through the centre of Glasgow it was not too much of a worry that only 2 cars were getting through any set of lights before they turned red again.
Uncle Kenny had booked a bus and they were camped out in a club about a mile South west of Hampden. We were told we could park there and they were out on the street looking for us long before we were south of the Clyde. On the phone my brother describes the car as "kind of teal green", i just about batted him in the face, for the record the official colour of the car is "Tornado Grey" it is under no circumstances any shade of bloody green, right!
Passed Hampden and headed south looking for the club, amazed Gerry seen us on the road and called us over, just as well because there is no way we would have found the place otherwise. So we are in the club and it's about 1pm. I am now reminded of the run up to the cup final in 98 - i was working in Glasgow at the time and took the train through to meet up with a few guys i was working with, blue noses to a man. Good time in the pub tho and i remember drinking 5 pints of Stella in an hour before heading off to walk to Parkhead - they offered me a lift on their mini bus but i couldn't quite handle that. So this time it is different i have the car so can't indulge - everyone else is tho and they are having a ball - big time singing like the game was already won.
Heard a few magic new ones, my favourite being (yellow submarine)
"Tony Mowbrays got a f&*k$%g monkeys heed" followed by the glorious response of
"Some poor monkeys got Tony Mowbrays heed"

Weather is kind to us as we set off for the game, passed a couple of pretty much bladdered gents one of whom is repeatedly apologising for swearing then promptly f'n n blinding - "oops there i go f'n swearin again, sorry folks". I start talking to him and he tells me that he has come all the way up from Norwich, he is really happy and proud of this and even more chuffed with the fact that it cost him £72. Not sure what he thought of things when i said "really, he's came over from Toronto for the game". Brought a smile to my face tho, not that it took much - here we were walking towards undoubted and obvious triumph and history. Back in the club talking to Colin he is totally convinced that "they are a bunch of amatuers and we will win 4 - 0". I was never that confident but i had predicted a 3 - 1 win for the good guys.

Get into Hampden and find our seats with about 1/2 hour to go, there is a lot of excitement and noise the stadium is already 3/4 full, not quite the heady heights of the semi final pre-match shenanigans tho. Don't think that could be beat. Unlike the semi final Hampden is packed to the rafters, when all is said and done i figure there must have been close on 40,000 Jambos.

So to the game, Hearts line up with what has become the standard first team squad over the past few weeks, with Aguair in for Brellier and Tall in front of both Webster and Berra. Maybe a slight surprise that Skacel is starting the game, but he is there nonetheless. Cesnauskis on the opposite wing and Jankauskas and Bednar up front. Hartley in the middle, Pressley, Fyassas and Neilson making up the rest of the back four and ofcourse Craig Gordon in goal - thats about as good as it gets i think and settle down for a comfortable 90 minutes march to lift the famous Scottish Cup. Paid no attention to Gretna's line up really?
Hearts start the game in avalanche mode and pound Gretna into what would have been submission but for a few of minor points -
This was the cup final so strange things can happen
Gretna are out of it everywhere apart from their defence which is pretty organised and solid
Bit of back luck in front of goal
Bit of decent goalkeeping from Alan Main
Bit of a lackadazical approach in front of goal

A few really good opportunities had gone abegging, Hartley miss controlled when he was right through, and Cesnuaskis had a shot hit the wood work, probably the two of note.
After 20 minutes of this the score is still 0 - 0 and Hearts could have been 2 or 3 up, obviously the game would have been totally different if that were the case. This started the seed of doubt in my head and evidently in the Hearts collective too. That seed germinated when Craig Gordon farted about with a pass back, ended up being closed down, messed up the kick resulting in a corner. I think Gretna's first attack. I received a text that simply said "OMG" - this was a theme that rattled around my head for quite a while!

At the 28 minute mark with the game looking delicately poised and still 0 - 0 i turn to Jason and say " thats Gretna lasted longer than Hibs then".
They didn't last too much longer tho, the ball came in from the right to the front post, was knocked to the back where Skacel was waiting - Skacel after his blinding start to the season had not scored since February, been in and out of the team and you could even argue maybe suffered a bit of a crisis in confidence. For this one split second it was just like the first few games, he just got the head down and took it perfectly on the half volley to send the ball into the far corner. A few weeks back i said that he might still have a big bearing on this season and that was it. Whatever Skacel does in the summer, i am delighted for him getting that one, he definitely deserves it.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1
Gretna Football Club 0
And for a while anyroads all is well with the world, the script has been read by all the participants and everyone is playing their part.
Not too much to write home about for the rest of the half, but. I have said about this Hearts team that "if we are not 2 - 0 up at half time then i am worried", never thought for a second that this one would adhere to that rule.
The second half starts and gretna have torn up the script, not exactly throwing caution to the wind but they have certainly stepped up in midfield and started to be counted - From this point on until a header by Pressley with a couple of minutes to go, i don't think Hearts won a single 50 - 50 inside the centre circle.
Gretna are pressing the game but Hearts are still making chances mostly down the channels, we are more or less missing out midfield, we just sort of handed it to them. Totally bizarre state of affairs i am thinking and the words "Champions League, your having a laugh" swill around my head. We could have and really we should have finished this team off, the main reason for failing in this was -
Bit of a lackadazical approach in front of goal
The two most notable examples of this were
Bednar straight through on goal, the keeper well of his line, perfect to be lobbed. Bednar lent back and chipped the ball 2 yards over the bar.
Fyassas makes it to the byline on the left and cuts back to Hartley 8 yards out with no one near him. This was a guilt edged chance to put this game beyond Gretna and make all our lives comfortable. Hartley lent back and chipped the ball 2 yards over the bar. He really should have melted that one into the net!
Gretna had a fantastic chance, they were right through on goal Gordon came out but was rounded, just as the forward is about to stroke the ball into the net, Robbie Neilson came out of nowhere with a world class challenge. This was the opposite side and we didn't even see Robbie he just seemed to come out of nowhere, to knock the ball behind. Not even a sniff of a foul, a fantastic challenge.
Not much later tho Gretna are pressing again, this time down the right, they manufacture a run into the box via a couple of neat passes. Cesnauskis does not have Robbies capabilities in these situations and clumsily bundles the Gretna boy to the ground - tiny bit soft but no option for the ref, had to be a penalty.
Craig Gordon saves but the rebound is netted - i have been told that it would have been retaken anyroads as Gordon moved before the ball was struck.
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1
Gretna Football Club 1
The white rabbit tumbled down the whole and we all went tumbling after.
The seed that had germinated earlier in the game had surrupticiously turned into a giant tree and Gretna were reaping their fruit.
This has happened to Hearts on a number of occassions during this season, there are times when we just seem to lose our way. I don't want to take anything away from Gretna, i thought they were fantastic but this was Hearts lost in themselves. The rest of the second half i spent polarised between a fundemental need to win this game and abject fear that we could actually lose it. Once again no disrespect to Gretna whatsoever but i think that just about everything Hearts have acheived this season could have been wiped out if we did not dismiss this lesser team. "Chic had said - this would be the biggest shock in Scottish cup history". Gretna could have won it in normal time, then again so could Hearts, i hated the game, it was crap. I was not prepared for the level of slog required to get through the minutes and i could make no intelligent statement on what the game was like because i don't have a clue what it was like.
Full Time
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1
Gretna Football Club 1
I noticed just like everyone else that in the break between full time and the start of extra time, the Hearts team were all lying down attempting to stave off cramp and the Gretna team were all jogging around, keeping warmed up. Thats another thing about this, surely it was Gretna who should have tired in this game - They never droppped a gear from about 1/2 hour in until the bitter end, like i said they were fantastic.
Extra time was much like the end of normal time, Gretna could have won it and so could Hearts. I still have no real grasp of how the game was played out, maybe Gretna maintained a better shape and discipline than we did but we have better players and that maybe gave us the advantage. I think that the tide gradually swung back in Hearts favour but we still couldn't put the ball in the back of the net and they seemed pretty comfortable to me. Apart from the moment when the ref just plain got it wrong, Skacel was through on Main, knocked the ball past him and got brought down. For me this was as much a penalty if not more than the Gretna case. Skacel has had a fair amount of abuse of late, some of it justified. Part of the abuse has been for diving, since then he has made a point of NOT diving, this time if he had stayed down i think he may well have got the penalty. Instead he got back up and tried to finish the chance, by then tho the defence had got back and the opportunity was gone. The ref stole that from us i thought, if main had not caught Skacel, he would have scored so thats a penalty. A few people talked about "Skacel ran into Main", but i don't buy that, there is no way he could have got out of the way and in any case why should he Main went straight through him.
The last thing of note in the game was - Hearts last attack Hartley got shepparded out to the sideline and was finally kicked to help him over it - a fould maybe a booking. Harley turns and has a stupid little kick back in retalliation. No chance he had to go, having already been booked for dissent after the Skacel penalty incident.
After extra time
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1
Gretna Football Club 1

This winners of this years Scottish Cup would now be decided by penalties.
Gretna have already won the moral victory by a country mile and i have decended into abject despair, convinced that the gods were on the side of the under dog today.
Pressley
Neilson
Skacel
Pospicil
All scored very well taken penalties and Craig Gordon saved Gretnas 3rd and their fourth was sent off the bar and over.
Just as their third was about to be struck the bloke in front of us turned to Jason, who by this time was in a worse mental state than me and said "don't worry, this is the one they miss" He was right and thank christ for that!
After Penalties
Heart of Midlothian Football Club 1 penalties 4
Gretna Football Club 1 penalties 2

I have to say i was not in heaven, i was obviously very happy when the ball struck the bar and went over and Hearts had finally managed to negotiate the game and come out the winners but it didn't really feel right, somehow it was diminished because we had made such heavy weather of it. That feeleing lasted until about 9:30 that evening.
I was so out of it that i was watching the Gretna team pass the Hearts support in the North stand when the cup was being held aloft on the plynth they had set up on the park. Brookes Mileson has said alot about the reception they got from the Hearts support during that lap of honour and every bit of it is true. they deserve huge credit for their performance. If i was to some it up i would say - "they got under our skin" a few teams but only a few have managed it this season and they definitely did. They made us work harder than a lot of premier league teams.

Diggers
We arrived in Diggers at 8 and started the party, met up with a few friends, guys that i have watched a lot of cup finals with in the past. Thankyou to them for coming over to Jambo land, it must have been tough - as Jonny Crisp said "We have a Tim, a Hibee and an athiest in Diggers the night Hearts bring the cup back to Gorgie". Special thanks to Fraser the Hibee, a sterling effort mate, can't imagine going down Easter Rd to help you celebrate Hibs winning the cup, then again there ain't much danger of that now is there.
Great old party ofcourse, favourite song of the evening ( now you gonna believe us )
The Hearts are having a party
The Hearts are having a party
The Hearts are having a pa-a-arty
The Hibs are in their beds

A word for Brookes Mileson, there was a rendition of "Theres only one Brookes Mileson, One Broo-ookes Mileson etc etc" around 11 ish in Diggers. Well done mate it is not many owners of opposing football teams who get that kind of overture.

So thats it, by a couple of beers in it started to sink in and i was getting happier and happier and by 9:30 i was delighted -
To get there we beat 3 top six premier league teams and we beat them 9 - 1 and you get the cup for all the games, and we got it for a lot of things and most of all we got it for hammering Hibs 4 - 0 in the semi final and that is just fantastic. I have now seen Hearts win the cup twice and not so long ago i had resigned myself to never seeing it. And more here is a picture of me holding the cup
( for any Hibees out there who may find themselves on this site, the Scottish Cup is the big silver thing in the middle )

Final game

Just a short note to fill in on the final game of the season.
A meaningless game played out at Ibrox on Sunday. Made Meaningless by the heroics of the previous wednesday.
Hearts made 9 changes and got beat 2 - 0 and for the first and only time this season i paid no attention whatsoever.
Nearly, i was ten pin bowling whilst the game was on the big screen, got my highest ever score as well 142 which is pretty crap really as far as i can tell.
I caught a few snippets of the game between bowls, and from what i saw i thought Hearts played alright, kept the ball well enough, didn't really threaten tho.
Rangers scored 2 goals and who cares really.
So thats it league season over, won't say too much right now, think i may come up with an extended summary after the penultimate entry which will be the account of the cup final on Saturday.
So for one last time in season 2005 - 2006
Hoooo On the JAMBOS

5

Bring on the Barca, thats all i can say.
There is history and loads of it. It is 14 years since the last time the Jambo's split the old firm, it is 46 years since the last time the Jambo's represented Scotland in Europes premier competition. So what can anyone say, all the madness the highs and lows of the season. What Hearts have acheived this season is now remarkable for all of the right reasons as well as all of the mental reasons.
Hoo on the Jambos absolutely bloody fantastic

I started yesterday with the knowledge that Rangers had edged out Hibs at Easter Road to again move to within a point of Hearts and again put the pressure on, now it is right down to the wire and any slip has no time for recovery - it is very simple - win the game against Aberdeen and all is well with the world we will again move 4 points ahead of Rangers with only the one game left. Anything else, draw or defeat will mean we need at least a draw at Ibrox on Sunday to secure 2nd place.
If you had asked me before the defeat to Hibs i would have, with much bravado, said 'sure man but it would be brilliant if it goes right to the last game at Ibrox, what a game that would be, and besides i have no fear of going to Ibrox - we will take something from the game'. To the same question yesterday, my response would have bleeted 'Please god let us take it tonight, having to take something from Ibrox will destroy me'.
As the day wore on and the kick off loomed nearer i became more and more nervous, it was around 2 o'clock in the afternoon when it was explained to me - in 86 we played the penultimate game of the season at Tynecastle against Aberdeen and it was a 1 - 1 draw. The guy a blue nose ofcourse was just trying to wind me up, or clutch at a straw. But for me it nailed it and i was of on an omen laced trip, and the nerves which lets face it are already completely shot, were again stretched to the limit.

Everything was just a wee bit wrong, not everything - the weather was brilliant. A really nice early May evening as we assembled for almost the final time at Tynecastle this season ( we should hopefully get to do it again to watch the Jambo's bring home the cup a week on Sunday ). The crowd were nervous and the warm up which is normally quite hectic seemed pedestrian, this was not helping me. The line-up at least was looking settled with exactly the same team that opened against Celtic. The pre-match wrongness culminated in the now familiar Hearts huddle, but the huddle lasted only half as long as normal - we are up to our eye sockets in nerves i think - gulp.
The nervousness was realised as soon as the game started, we had trouble controlling the ball, we certainly couldn't put 3 passes together. Everything we tried was just that we bit not quite right - what looked like it might have been a fantastic defence splitting pass down the right channel for Chesnauskis to run on to would just trundle over the byeline, just half a yard too far. Or Skacel would cut inside just as Jankauskas slips the ball out or Bednar moves the ball square right into Jankauskas who has two on him whele Skacel is free on his left. It was just not happening. Aberdeen were there to, they were right up for it, a win they needed, i guess they could have lived with a draw but like Hibs they needed Rangers to pip Hearts into 2nd place so they needed to beat us. They were in our faces and they were busy and they were pretty dangerous looking to begin with. Mostly with a couple of near thing offsides that went Hearts way, or they would have been right through. As each minute passed tho Hearts would exert just a touch more control on the game and by 20 minutes in Aberdeen were drying up as an attacking force. As an attacking force tho Hearts were still to kick in, we had a few efforts but it just wasn't there. The best of this was really close tho, for once some neat passing that came of ended with Skacel tearing into the box and smashing a shot low to the inside of the keeper, can't be certain but i think it came of the post and screamed across to the other side of the box.

It was a tough, tough half and it finished 0 - 0. I have mentioned a few times this season that if Hearts are not 2 up at half time then i am nervous - i was really nervous.
Then came the half time entertainment. All season Hearts have been running a competition, each week 3 punters turn up on the pitch and from the D at the Gorgie end try to hit the bar. Surprising how many managed it, each who did was back tonight to do the same and win the big prize. There were 16 of them. So in turn they each try to hit the bar from the D again - they went round twice and no one managed it and they ran out of time and had to draw for the winner. Me and the guy that sits in front of me looked at each other and in unison said 'if thats not an omen, i don't know what is' and my nervous breakdown takes another step closer.

Just as the 2nd half is about to start i am thinking Ivanauskas will have had a word with them maybe we will see a more possitive and controlled half. Aguair receives the kick off and is short with his pass back to Tall and the Aberdeen front two race in and steal it and my hopes are dashed immediately. Just a blip tho we are again back on top and now really do have the midfield and are able to press the game. A couple of shots and not so great crosses but we are getting closer and at least by now we can find each other with the ball. Can't remember right now where it came from, cross throw in or corner from the right, the keeper is lost, the ball is over his head, it is heading for Jankauskas at the back post he is only 2 ft out from the line he can't miss...... Up comes an Aberdeen hand to steal the ball from his head. Stonewall penalty and he should have been sent off, nobody is sure who he is Russel Anderson or Zander Diamond, think it should have been Zander for having such a stupid name.
Hartley has not missed a penalty all season, but my brain is fried, i know fine well he allways puts the ball in the same place, low to his left, and if the Aberdeen keeper has half a brain then so does he. He almost got there but but too much pace and we are 1 up and i can't believe we are ahead.
We had other efforts, i am sure we were close on a couple of occassions, but we were destined to take it to the wire with the most slender of leads. Ex Jambo Scott Severin was sent off for a cynical and pointless two footed lunge at Aguair, but you wouldn't have known really. To be honest tho i don't have much of a recollection - this was purgatory, i don't think Aberdeen really threatened but the memory of them stealing a 2 - 1 win from being 1 down a couple of months back was at the front of my mind.
We endured the customary last few minutes where we were booting the ball anywhere and there were a few balls dropping into our box with players throwing themselves in and anything could have happened, but we endured.
The final whistle brought the biggest roar of the season and it was 99% relief, the ecstacy will come with the cup.
The highlights are on the TV tonight, i will watch because i have funny idea that we were actually pretty good, in the second half at least, and i have been unjust. It was just too much like hard work tho.

So thats it we finish 2nd and have a shot at the Champions League next season and huge amounts of vindication for Vlad and some of his mental decisions. We can now look to thye cup final with real pride and joy in what we have already done and the cup will be a giant slice of icing for the cake.

Oh yes and 5 thats the number of years last night cost me.

Let's Make Some Noise, The Gorgie Boys

ARE GOING TO EUROPE !!

Another bizarre week in Jamboland. We do it ourselves but the media hounds are glorying in everything and anything that makes the good old Jambo's look even slightly askew. They blow it up and turn it into a mad circus at Heart of Lithuania. This week it was all about the medical staff - we now have a faith healer who wears pygamas, he is called of all things 'Jambo' and we have an old witch with a big gold stick who will strike a player and decide if he is fit for the game. OK, OK if there is even a shred of truth in any of that then we deserve everything we get i guess. There has to be something in it because our chief physiotherapist Ollie Finlay got himself suspended on Saturday - probably giving it "I am not letting that hacket auld witch anywhere near my boys with that big stick" I just kind of sit back trying to smile. If truth be known the league position and cup final place speaks for itself. If and when we manage the Champions League and the cup then who gives a flying f**k what anyone thinks - it is all just sour grapes especially, from the blue nosed legions. Actually you know what, sitting back thinking about it right now - Rangers and their masses of supporters have conducted themselves OK through all of this, it's everyone else that has been totally off on one, having a dig at Hearts at any opportunity. For a third of the season Rangers simply went through the worst run in the history of the club running up something like 11 games without a win. Since then they have just plugged away and tried their best to claw us back - i think they will just fail, but it has been a bloody good effort nonetheless.
The rest of the weeks circus has been concerned with disgruntled players who were 1st team regulars and are now not getting a game.
Brellier, making the most noise. He has been brilliant for most of the season, it has allways been good to see the line-up when he is in the middle there with Hartley, you know you will get 100% out of him. His place has been taken by Aguair and thats the problem, Aguair is pretty damn good as well. They are different players with Aguair being a bit more creative. So what can you say, stay and fight for your place Brellier. The media blow this up ofcourse, they make it seem like the dressing room is about to implode with in fighting and premadonna walk outs. None of it is real. Except Webster i guess which is a bit of a sickener, somehow he seems to have manufactured a corner and been forced to sit in it. The best i can see is that he will get a good offer from down south close season and be able to pick his career up without too much of a problem. It is well known that he is looking for a move to Rangers but they will be getting a new manager so there are no garauntees.
From all of this i would say, what else can you expect from such a large squad, this must happen inside bigger teams constantly and nobody bats an eyelid.
So to this weekends action,
Rangers played Killie on Saturday and won 3 - 1 to take them to within 1 point of Hearts.
Hibs went up to Aberdeen bouyed by their derby win and got royally horsed 4 - 0 excellent ( how many times have Hibs been stuffed 4 - 0 this season and is it a record? i think it probably is you know ).

So the pressure was on and we had to stand up and be counted. I was wrong on all counts as usual.
I thought Celtic would be on the beach already, i thought only half the 1st team would be picked and they would be devoid of passion and hunger. Celtic turned up, thats for sure.
I thought that Hearts would be nervous and that would if anything be our downfall.
We were lucky i guess the nerves never got a chance to flutter, ten minutes into the game and we have a free kick to the left of the box. Swung in with pace by Hartley, it was met by Celtic's McManus - it screamed into the top corner.
HMFC 1 - Celtic 0
2 minutes later we have a free kick on the left of the box. Somehow Hartley managed to get sanction to take the free kick whilst the Celtic defence were still scratching their arses and making a wall. Hartley swung a beautiful curled shot into the top of right top of the net. Christ he must have loved that, i certainly did.
HMFC 2 - Celtic 0
This was fantastic but it was also exactly what we did against them in that game in January, so i was taking nothing for granted. We played some good stuff during the next 15 minutes and the game was nip and tuck with chances at both ends. Most notably a couple of efforts which fell to Celtic players in the Hearts box, each time tho the finish was weak and easily catered for by Craig Gordon. A blistering counter by Hearts down the left was reminiscent of Skacel at his absolute best, a triangle involving Fyassas, Hartley and Skacel saw him tearing down the left. Skacel outfoxed two defenders to get loose in the box and he fired a great shot that beat the keeper but thundered off the near post - it would have been a screamer and worthy of finishing the game.
The last 10 or 15 minutes of the first half were owned by Celtic they played the ball well in midfield but never seemed to be able to penetrate other than by hopeful balls to the back post which were not dealt with well be the Hearts defence. That Hearts defence tho looked much more like the real thing with Fyassas and Pressley back in. Ibrahim Tall was preferred to Christophe Berra. I got a good look at him in this first half and he had Dublin in his back pocket, played a really good possitive half. It was only Dublin he had to contend with tho so it would have been interesting if Hartson had been on the park.
Half time.
The second half was more one sided in favour of Hearts, Celtic still played their part and definitely wanted to get something out of the game. They competed well enough in midfield, enough for Lennon to get himself booked and then hooked just in time or he would have been sent off any minute. They brought on Petrov, Hartson and Pearson, but not before the game was over at the clinical hands of Roman Bednar. Hearts broke up another keep ball attempt by Celtic in midfield, a couple of quick passes to move into the Celtic half and a fantastic ball clipped forward that must have just beat the offside trap in no more ( playing the offside trap is more like playing the offside lottery these days mind you ). Bednar was straight thro on goal, all he had to do was get control, collect himself and score the goal. I am sure we all know that that is much much harder than it seems, given the amount of times you see strikers make an arse of it. Bednar finished like Thierry Henry would finish.
HMFC 3 - Celtic 0
I have now witnessed the largest winning margin against Celtic i have ever seen, the one i thought we would get in January, wish to hell we had got it in January when we really needed it.
Hearts continued to push, brought on Pospisil, and Berra and Baressa, Celtic continued to play their part as well but i don't think they were ever really going to go the extra yard. So 3 - 0 it finished, bloody marvelous.

For the conspiracy theorists, 2 things.
Celtic definitely turned up and played their part, it was a strong team and they competed well enough.
If the game really mattered to them, it would not have finished 3 - 0
There you go never let it be said that i never sit on the fence.
After lots of chucking abuse at each other, some time after we were 3 up there was a collective rendition of 'Lets all laugh and Rangers, lets all laugh at Rangers Ha Ha Ha Ha'
Sorry thats 3 things.

Conspiracy theories abound at this time of year, and champions Celtic at Tynecastle with nothing to play for except a chance to get it right up Rangers by getting beat, was a doozy.
Get this one tho, how do you read this if you are Aberdeen.
The only way Hibs can get a place in the EUFA cup is for them to finish 4th, for Rangers to pip Hearts into 2nd place and then for Hearts to win the cup. Under those circumstances alone would the 2nd EUFA place go to them and not to Gretna the beaten cup finalists. So the only way ( not a good way but the only way ) that HIbs can make that happen is to .... let Rangers beat them on Tuesday night? WOW get your noodle round that. Riordan runs the length of the park to score a last minute own goal to finish Hibs 0 Rangers 1.
For Aberdeen it is much simpler, they need the same thing to happen but they just have to think about beating us on Wednesday, and hope Rangers horse Hibs.

Could all be over by the time we play Aberdeen at tynecastle on Wednesday night but i suspect Rangers will still be in with a shout so a similar performance will be needed to avoid the possibility of a final day meltdown at Ibrox.