JAMIE DEVLIN

@ Jamiedevlin1988

Last season was great – our return to the Premiership couldn’t have gone much better: finishing third with ease, securing European football, and even reaching the Scottish Cup final. This season will be different because we’ll be handling Europe while trying to maintain third spot. We’re going to be playing a lot of games.

Our key player will be Craig Gordon [ below], comfortably. He’ll be 40 at the end of 2022, but he’s in the form of his career and the best goalkeeper in the UK right now. Our most underrated player is Liam Boyce. It might sound crazy given the goals he scores, but there’s still a large element of our support who don’t rate him. Hopefully we can keep him. The active player I’d love to have back is Ellis Simms, the 21- year- old striker on loan from Everton last term. He came in and hit the ground running right from the off – a truly fantastic signing for Hearts.

The opposition player who grinds my gears is Alfredo Morelos. No doubt he’s a wonderful talent, but the way he conducts himself is pathetic at times.

Fans think our owners are fine – given that we’re now officially fan- owned, we can’t really complain! I’m least looking forward to playing

Celtic. We have a horrendous record against them in Glasgow, so home games will be our main chance if we’re to compete with them. The opposition player I’d love here is

Kyogo Furuhashi. The guy has flown in from Japan and taken to Scotland so quickly – he’s an unbelievable talent.

The fans’ opinion of the gaffer is that Robbie Neilson’s popularity has grown, considering how comfortably we came third and got to a cup final. Compared with the previous campaign, when the football was dismal and we exited the cups early against lower- league sides, it’s a huge improvement.

The pantomime villain will be the referees. They’re very poor in Scotland and the introduction of VAR after the winter break at the beginning of 2023 isn’t going to help them.

We’ll finish 3rd again, even if I expect Aberdeen and Hibs to be far stronger than last season.

FFT VERDICT

3RD

After years of toil, the pieces have clicked at Tynecastle. The work of Neilson and sporting director Joe Savage has paid off, with smart signings establishing Hearts as the best of the rest. European football is back on the agenda, and the fans would love some silverware.