Bronze is good but silver is always topping it
Why can’t Naisy’s 2024 class join ’98, ‘06 and ‘12 legends?
HEARTS remain well on course to finish third but lifting the Scottish Cup would be the big one.
Stevie Naismith’s squad will 100 per cent believe they can go all the way. Rightly so – because they can. Hearts teams have done it in the past and will do it again in the future. Why can’t this team join those of 1998, 2006 and 2012?
The players might not declare it publicly because every footballer knows you open yourself up to being left with egg on your face but they will fancy their chances.
Every season I went in looking to do well in the league and trying to win the cups.
Hearts are likely to finish third in the league but that won’t really float the boats of their players.
They will want to finish third 100 per cent but there is no medal at the end of it. You want to win a cup. You get the medal and so much more.
When you go into Tynecastle or the training ground, you see all the pictures of teams who have won cups in the past.
These are moments that live with you forever. Why can’t this Hearts team do it? They’ve already beaten Celtic and given Rangers a run for their money.
The immediate focus has to be on getting past Morton on Monday night. Where this Hearts team is, they can’t go to Cappielow and lose at this stage of the competition.
The players know the importance of this game and the fact there is a semi-final place up for grabs.
The team are in a good place. There are good Scottish players in there, who are experienced, know the club and you can see this squad manages itself.
Captain Lawrence Shankland epitomises that. Look at all the speculation he has had this season and he is just going from strength to strength.
He just keeps scoring goals and is getting better and better. He will be important again in
this cup tie. Morton will be a horrible game for them and Hearts will know that.
They will have to be up for it. If they’re not then they could come unstuck.
Airdrie in the last round would have been a horrible game for them but they dealt really well with the circumstances and came through that tie.
They will hope for something similar against Morton.
Dougie Imrie and his players will be after them. It would be a big scalp for Morton.
They beat Motherwell in the last round and will take a lot of
confidence from that. But Hearts need to progress. They will want to win a cup and if they do and finish third it becomes a really successful season.
It has been successful so far but with the adversity Stevie has come through since the start of the season and the last two or three months the team have been exceptional.
But everyone knows you could be one result from it all turning again. As it stands Hearts will go into the cup tie full of confidence after beating Celtic.
There were a few dodgy refereeing decisions but all in all Hearts did everything they had to do to win that game.
I don’t think either penalty was a penalty and neither was the Celtic red card but the team never let things faze them.
I know it was 11 v 10 but Hearts were super professional. It was as comfortable as I have seen Hearts against either of the Old Firm. It just shows the massive strides this team have taken. They’d been on such a good run and the Rangers’ result was disappointing but the team responded in exactly the right manner.
They didn’t play well in the derby and still took something but against Celtic you could see them come out as if they owed the fans one.
I’m in no doubt they’ll now go from strength to strength. They just need to concentrate on themselves and keep ticking the games off.
They will finish third and it’s now about how many points can they put on the board.
If they can do that and lift the Scottish Cup that’s likely to guarantee European group stage football again. That would cap a dream season for everybody connected with Hearts.