The Bleeding Hearts Show

[he_2]

I got back to my flat, threw my coat onto my bed, took off my shoes, put the telly on and quickly sent a message around the group chat.

“You’ll probably see some news around this evening about me leaving the club at the end of the season. Meeting at 9:30am Monday and I’ll explain why, what it means for you and take questions. Well done today, have a good Sunday. JP”

Caffeine or booze, caffeine or booze. I genuinely didn’t know whether I wanted a coffee or a beer, so I boiled the kettle and also got a bottle out of the fridge. Why not just have both.

“And we have some er, BREAKING NEWS from TYNECASTLE, the er, home of SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP SIDE HEARTS”

God, every time I watched Sky Sports News, the ludicrous tone of the newsreader really set my teeth on edge. I swiftly put my phone onto aeroplane mode, I didn’t really want to talk to anyone.

“It seems that er, young manager JONES PATTERSON will leave the club er, AT THE END OF THE CURRENT SEASON.”

I knew that what, 95% of people watching really couldn’t give a damn about my future, yet the stammering besuited white toothed gurning idiot on the screen made my impending departure sound like the nation was in the grip of a deadly pandemic.

“SKY SPORTS NEWS correspondent er, LEAH YOUNG is at Tynecastle for us, LEAH, WHAT’S HAPPENING?”

“Well, David, in the past hour Jones Patterson has been meeting with chairwoman Ann Budge and signalled his intention to quit his post at the end of the current season. As you know, David, Patterson caused quite a stir when he was appointed being only 20-years old but has won over the doubters with his side looking likely to finish third in his debut season and producing an entertaining brand of football.”

“Is there any er, reaction from JONES OR, er, indeed THE CLUB?”

“Jones left the ground about 20 minutes ago but refused to speak to us…”

Good work, Leah, good work.

“…we’ve tried to get word from the club but have been told they have no comment to make at the moment but that a statement will be released in due course.”

“Okay, THANK YOU FOR now er, LEAH,”

David returned to flash his gormless toothy smile at the camera.

“Of course, we’ll er, keep you UPDATED with and developments in this BREAKING STORY, er, a reminder that JONES PATTERSON. Manager of. Scottish PREMIERSHIP SIDE. HEARTS. WILL BE LEAVING. THE CLUB. AT THE END OF THE SEASON.”

I could take no more, so, getting off the sofa, I switched off the kettle and decided to open the beer.

[he_2]

Saturday 2^nd May 2020: Heart of Midlothian v Glasgow Celtic (SPL)

Venue: Tynecastle

Att: 20,099

After all of the boohally that surrounded the week it was good to finally get back down to the football with the visit of the champions elect to Tynecastle, Neil Lennon’s Celtic side – strangely enough the half of the Old Firm that we’d done rather better against, forgetting our abject 4-0 humiliation at Parkhead last time we met.

The players seemed fairly unaffected by the news of my departure in so far as they got on with the job in hand, immediately, meanwhile every day outside the ground the vultures were out trying to get soundbites from the fans. If you had them believe everything, the feeling was split 50/50 with half blaming the club and half thinking I was a disloyal son of a gun. It didn’t help that the club’s statement, released on Sunday morning could hardly be described as accurate.

We have reluctantly accepted the intention of manager Jones Patterson to leave his post at the end of the current season, it read before going on we are particularly disappointed with the timing of the announcement as we feel it could distract from the business of securing European Football for the 2020/1 season.

“Bide your time,” Pat Nevin told me one evening over a beer, “believe me, most of the fans are with you on this, they see this as another piece of mismanagement from the club. Keep your powder dry until the action is done and dusted then go public with your reasons why.” He counselled. “The players don’t like the airing of dirty laundry in public.”

It was good advice, so when the question came up in press conferences, I played a straight bat, decent forward defensive returning the ball to the bowler.

More than ever, though, I really needed to block out the crowd for this game and make sure I was fully focused on events on the pitch. This was a huge game for us, not only in our pursuit of 3^rd place but also to exorcise the demons of that visit to Parkhead. I had spent ten minutes showing the boys where we’d come horribly unstuck on that occasion and we worked on things to try and rectify those issues.

We were unchanged for the game but served an early warning as to Celtic’s intentions when Souttar headed clear a right-wing cross only for Callum McGregor to meet it on the volley from the edge of the box. His effort lacked nothing for power, but with Pereira rooted fizzed only just over the top and into the crowd behind. Had it gone it, it would have been a wonderful goal that would even have had me purring in admiration.

We were infinitely tighter than we’d been at Parkhead, defending well and making sure the two centre-halves were working together in tandem rather than separate entities. As we approached the midway point in the first half a Ricci Montolivo corner kick was headed clear. It fell nicely for Jamie Walker who set the ball back fore John Souttar, some 25 to 30 yards from goal. The centre half took a touch before lashing a quite brilliant strike from distance beyond former Hearts legend Craig Gordon in the Celtic goal and into the top corner of the net. We’d seen a few decent strikes during the year but this was probably the pick of the bunch.

What a way to get the place rocking, and what a way to get off the mark for the season.

That set Celtic nerves-a-jangling and we began to completely boss them. Played them off the park with a swagger and confidence usually displayed by the men in green. In the 29^th minute, a patient move saw the ball worked forward to Conor Washington with his back to goal. A simple lay-off into the path of Walker 25-yards out and with space to move into, the attacking midfielder couldn’t believe his luck as no hooped shirt came out to meet him and so, from just inside the D, he unleashed a strike that was not dissimilar to Souttar’s. The result was the same, Craig Gordon had no chance and it flew into the same top corner to give us a thoroughly deserved 2-goal cushion.

Straight from the restart, Leigh Griffiths picked out Tom Rogic at the far post, unmarked, but the Aussie midfielder could only steer his effort from an awkward height straight at Pereira. Within a minute, Jay Charleston-King found himself in behind the Celtic back-four all alone, unfortunately with only Gordon to beat, the angle was against the young striker and his effort was comfortably gathered by the Bhoys’ keeper.

Things were end-to-end, Celtic having awoken from their slumber but looking less than secure at the back. Odsonne Edouard’s knock-down at the far post fell invitingly for Griffiths around the penalty spot, but he lashed his left footed strike wide of the post when you’d have laid your house on him at least hitting the target before a cross in by Glenn Whelan skimmed off a defender’s head and required a smart save down by his post by Gordon.

The half ended with Griffiths finally being played in behind Halkett, just where he’d thrived at Parkhead, this time Pereira won the battle of wills, not committing himself too early and diving to his right to paw the ball away from danger and keep our cushion at the break.

HALF TIME: Heart of Midlothian 2-0 Glasgow Celtic

“Lads, that’s magnificent. Well done. You’ve made them look second best, which they are today so far.” I said at the break, unable to disguise my delight. “They’ll be getting a shellacking in there,” I pointed across the hallway to the visitor’s dressing room, “so they’ll come on strong second half. The longer we stop them from scoring the more desperate they’ll become. Take your chances when they come, a third goal will absolutely kill them. Well done, all of you, well done. More of the same.”

The performance had done plenty to take the spotlight off my future and focused it deservedly on the boys on the field. How I wanted to beat one of the Old Firm before I left the club, just to prove to myself that we could do it. I believed we could, if we could just see this one out.

Not even twenty seconds of the second period had elapsed when things changed. A ball forward from Christopher Julien had seen Rogic spring the offside trap in behind Craig Halkett. The defender tried to get back at Rogic and as the Celtic midfielder cut in-front of him, his heels were clipped. With Halks having been cautioned as early as the second minute of the first half, the second yellow card was inevitable and we were a man short for the remaining 45-minutes.

After the free kick from Griffiths had been superbly saved by Pereira, I immediately withdrew Jay Charleston-King and sent Peter Haring on to slot in alongside Souttar at centre-half.

Five minutes later, the ominous signs grew. Greg Taylor received the ball back from McGregor and swung a cross in from the left. It was met at the far post by Edouard, and although Pereira made a fine block from the initial effort, the rebound fell kindly for the French striker and he thumped it home to reduce the arrears.

The mood around the ground had completely shifted, all the noise was coming from the goal behind Craig Gordon where the visiting supporters were congregated.

The expected onslaught never quite materialised though, we still seemed to enjoy the majority of possession and largely kept the dangerous Celtic front three pretty quiet. Edouard did have another decent opening when he cut in off the right flank but his shot was well saved by Pereira at his near post. Aside from that, for the next 25-minutes it was pretty even.

Then, with a quarter of an hour remaining, a ball forward from Taylor finally found Griffiths running in behind, the striker having worked a rare gap between the two centre-halves. Pereira came out, Griffiths took the ball round him and stroked it into the empty net for the equaliser.

Goddamn!

The tide had fully turned now, there was only likely to be one winner now. I felt absolutely sick inside.

Curiously, though, it was almost as if the visitors were content with the point, I really thought they’d thrown everything at us in the closing stages and give us a real test, but it didn’t happen. Whether they were tired or whether Neil was concerned about being caught overcommitting on the break and losing the game, I didn’t know. But in that final quarter of an hour, there was a distinct lack of, I don’t know, belief? Intensity, certainly. I’d have gone for the throat with a man advantage and thrown everything at it in his position but managing the opposition’s team is a lot easier than managing your own.

Come the final whistle Neil looked as relieved as I did with the point, we shook hands and I wished him all the best for the final three games. He did the same, also wishing me well for the future, where-ever that ended up taking me and letting me know I could ring him any time if I wanted any advice, or to chat things through.

Back in the dressing room I could see the boys were shattered, Halks was up and talking, apologising for his red card and letting them down – something that seemed to go down well.

“Listen boys, I know how sickening that feels, I feel it too, believe me. But I am certain we’d have won the game with 11 v 11. You can live with the Old Firm, you can beat them. Hold your heads up high this evening, well done. We’re another point ahead of Aberdeen, they lost at Kilmarnock. Eight points and three matches remaining, how good would it be to secure third at their place next week? Eh? Come on, heads up. Well done!”

FULL TIME: Heart of Midlothian 2-2 Glasgow Celtic

Team: Pereira, Smith, Souttar, Halkett, White, Montolivo, Whelan, Walker (McDonald), Meshino (Mulraney), Charleston-King (Haring), Washington

[he_2]

Table as at Saturday 2^nd May 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	35	27	7	1	81	25	88	56
Glasgow Rangers	35	27	3	5	81	21	84	60
Heart of Midlothian	35	21	8	6	75	46	71	29
Aberdeen	35	18	9	8	53	42	63	11
Kilmarnock	35	13	10	12	39	36	49	3
Motherwell	35	11	8	16	47	56	41	-9
Hibernian	35	10	10	15	49	60	40	-11
St Johnstone	35	9	10	16	40	54	37	-14
St Mirren	35	10	6	19	34	55	36	-21
Livingston	35	7	7	21	35	76	28	-41
Hamilton Academical	35	6	9	20	33	60	27	-27
Ross County	35	5	5	25	31	67	20	-36

 

Saturday 2^nd May 2020

Hearts	2	2	Celtic
Kilmarnock	2	0	Aberdeen
Motherwell	0	4	Rangers
Livingtson	2	0	Hibernian
Ross County	1	3	St Mirren
St Johnstone	2	0	Hamilton

[he_2]

Saturday 9^th May 2020: Aberdeen v Heart of Midlothian (SPL Championship Group)

Venue: Pittodrie

Att: 20,961

A week of frenzied speculation around my future came and went, had I been tapped up by someone? Was I looking to try my luck south of the border? Abroad, maybe? It was laughable when my only plan was to head to Iceland for a four-night break to recharge the batteries a little.

Relations with Ann had certainly taken a nose-dive, we were now barely speaking face-to-face, I know she felt as if I’d betrayed her and I also knew the club PR machine was doing its best to paint me as the bad-guy in all of this. “I’m really sorry, Jones,” Ellie Ogilvie had told me, “I hate putting out this spin.”

“Don’t sweat it, Ellie, I’ve got broad shoulders, it’s fine. The truth will come out in time.”

In amongst all of that we’d managed to plan for the third visit of the season to Pittodrie where so far, we’d drawn one and lost one. I really wanted to seal our third place in the table there, just to show everyone watching that we deserved our tag as ‘best of the rest’. What better way to do it than by beating the ‘second best of the rest’ on their own patch?

Christophe Berra got the nod over Peter Haring to return at centre-half in place of the banned Craig Halkett, but we were otherwise unchanged once again.

In the fourth minute of the match, Ryo Meshino intercepted a loose pass and went on a 60-yard run, leaving red shirts lingering in his wake unable to keep up with him, Once he’d gotten himself into the penalty area, his low shot was on target, but the long frame of Joe Lewis in the home goal made itself large and he made a fine save, diverting the ball away from goal where a red shirt cleared the danger.

Two minutes later, James Wilson sent a searching pass in behind Berra and Sam Cosgrove latched onto it, John Souttar was coming around to try and cover but couldn’t catch the Dons striker and this time it was Joel Pereira who had to extend himself, to his right and push the ball behind for a corner. Lewis Ferguson met the flag kick but could only direct his header maybe a foot over the crossbar and behind for a goal kick.

The breath-taking opening continued less than a minute later with a loose ball falling for Montolivo in midfield. Jay Charleston-King was immediately on his bike and picked out by a superb ball from the Italian midfielder, clear on goal the young striker showed maturity beyond his years to take the shot early from the edge of the box and drive it high across Lewis, beyond his reach and into the top corner of the net to open the scoring. A superbly taken goal.

Two minutes later and another simple ball over the top in behind Berra had caught our skipper out, Cosgrove was once again in behind although this time he found himself driven wider than he’d have liked and his shot went well wide of the target without troubling Pereira.

“We’ve got to plug that gap,” I said to Austin as we stood side-by-side. “To easy too often with Chris. Get him just to drop off three or four yards when it looks like someone is about to launch one in behind him.”

Things rather settled down after that silly harum-scarum opening and aside from a Lorand Fulop effort that drifted into the side netting following a mazy run from deep, neither side really looked like adding to the scoresheet over the next 25-minutes or so. Then a strike from Ferguson from the edge of the box, after he’d taken down a headed clearance and worked the ball onto his left foot beat Pereira all ends up and cannoned back off the post, before being hacked away by White with Cosgrove sniffing around.

That led to a spell of heavy Aberdeen pressure, but we held firm and defended well, not giving them a sniff of goal. With five minutes of the first half remaining, a ball forward from deep was expertly chested down by Charleston-King and then as he turned, he spotted the run of Washington off his marker. The ball was judged perfectly, Washington took a touch and then slipped the ball beyond Lewis into the back of the net. Off he went to begin celebrations only for, once again, the Assistant’s flag to adjudge him offside. Oh, the despair! To be fair, he was offside and the decision absolutely right.

Immediately from Lewis’ free-kick which found only Michael Smith, Washington was given another chance to score as the full-back’s ball forward again saw the Ulsterman break any attempted offside trap. This time the flag stayed down but Washington’s touch was probably a little heavy meaning that Lewis could narrow the angle more than a perfect touch would have allowed him. The goalkeeper again made himself big and produced a fine save to keep the deficit down to the single goal.

A superb covering tackle by Souttar just as Cosgrove was looking to pull the trigger after the Aberdeen striker had gotten clear again kept us ahead before Whelan, just as the clock ticked past the 45, blocked a left-wing cross and came away with the ball towards halfway, he then played the ball down the channel for Charleston-King who was clear. This time his shot was blocked by Lewis but Washington had done superbly to get up in support and hook the rebound into the loose net left-footed before Lewis or anyone else could react. With no flag, the striker was able to run off and celebrate a rare legal goal and, more pleasingly for the team, the extension of our advantage at the break.

HALF TIME: Aberdeen 0-2 Heart of Midlothian

“Well done again, boys. That’s a good first half. Defensively sound on the whole, good going forward. Chris and Souts, please tighten that gap between you, Sammy Cosgrove has got in behind a couple of times. I don’t want to see that second half, okay? Glenn, Ricci, Jamie, get on their ball players nice and sharp, don’t let that ball over the top come, okay. Otherwise, really pleasing. Well done you two boys up top, a goal each, good to see. Keep it going after the break. Well done. Let’s go again.”

We started the second half abysmally, allowing Fulop a full 70 yard run unchallenged before he tested Pereira with a low strike that the goalkeeper did well to block. That burst really showed up the lack of pace we had at the back with Berra which was something for the new manager to look at. This time we’d gotten away with it.

It was only the start.

On the hour mark James Wilson picked pocketed Aidan White on our left flank, cut inside and then sent that exact ball I’d been warning about in behind Berra. There was that man Cosgrove and from about 15-yards out he rifled the ball past Pereira and into the back of the net to reduce the arrears to a single goal.

We had been noticeably absent as an attacking entity in the first quarter of an hour of the second period, so on came Sean Clare to try and shake things up a little whilst Aidan White paid for that mistake by being withdrawn in favour of Leo Watson at left-back.

The move almost paid instant dividends as Montolivo managed to pick out the run of Washington, who looked reinvigorated by his goal, this time Lewis made a good save diving to his left, not that it mattered unduly since once again, Washington had gone a fraction early and was again flagged offside. Another issue for the new manager to try and get to grips better than I’d been able to.

With 16 minutes of the 90 remaining, and things having settled down for fifteen minutes or so after that Washington chance, more shabby defending saw the Dons move level. A Ferguson corner kick into the near post saw Cosgrove left completely unmarked – he didn’t even have to run off the shoulder of anyone – and the striker rose unchallenged to plant his header between Pereira and Watson, who was on the post, and into the net for the equaliser. It was, on balance, deserved.

Two minutes later, Washington had a glorious opportunity as Berra’s ball through exploited a gap in the Aberdeen defence and sent the striker through. Again he saw Lewis facing him up and again he went low to beat him. Again the big goalkeeper won the battle of wills making a fine save to his left and pushing the ball behind for a corner kick.

Our ignominy was complete from that corner as a swift counter attack saw play swing to the other end, Wilson fed Fulop and he in turn played in Cosgrove – who’d made the initial clearance from the corner – the striker duly completed an outstanding hat-trick with a measured finish across Pereira and into the bottom corner of the net.

We looked shell-shocked, I felt shell-shocked. And angry. Fiercely angry.

Defensively we were all over the shop now, Wilson should have made it four, but Pereira made a fine save before Andrew Considine headed over from the corner. We’d gotten what we deserved for a woeful second half showing and I was far from happy in the dressing room after the game.

I was absolutely furious, laying into the boys for a good half-an-hour afterwards. What good it’d do, I didn’t know. I accused some of them of already being on the beach, others of ignoring simple instructions – as well as Cosgrove had played, he was no better than countless other strikers we’d managed to keep quite during the season. Indeed, I made all my players sign the matchball for the Aberdeen striker and Christophe Berra go and present it to him as a well-done, I wanted them to feel embarrassed having to do that. The absolute biggest thing that was eating away at me, though, was our inability to hold onto a two-goal lead at the break. For the second week in a row we’d thrown one away, one through indiscipline and the other through rank laziness. The only player I excused the lashing was Jay Charleston-King, who had been outstanding for us.

Their Sunday morning lay-in was cancelled, with Rangers at Ibrox looming and the gap at the top down to a single point with Rangers’ 2-1 win at Parkhead, we had a further spanner to throw in the title race and I was damned determined that we were going to do it.

FULL TIME: Aberdeen 3-2 Heart of Midlothian

Team: Pereira, Smith, Souttar, Berra, White (Watson), Montolivo, Whelan, Walker (Clare), Meshino, Charleston-King, Washington.

[he_2]

Table as at Saturday 9^th May 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	36	27	7	2	82	27	88	55
Glasgow Rangers	36	28	3	5	83	22	87	61
Heart of Midlothian	36	21	8	7	77	49	71	28
Aberdeen	36	19	9	8	56	44	66	12
Kilmarnock	36	14	10	12	41	36	52	5
Motherwell	36	11	8	17	47	58	41	-11
Hibernian	36	11	10	15	50	60	43	-10
St Johnstone	36	9	10	17	40	55	37	-15
St Mirren	36	10	7	19	36	57	37	-21
Hamilton Academical	36	7	9	20	35	61	30	-26
Livingston	36	7	8	21	37	78	29	-41
Ross County	36	5	5	26	32	69	20	-37	R

 

Saturday 9^th May

Aberdeen	3	2	Hearts
Celtic	1	2	Rangers
Kilmarnock	2	0	Motherwell
Hibs	1	0	St Johnstone
Ross County	1	2	Hamilton
St Mirren	2	2	Livingston

[he_2]

Tuesday 12^th May 2020: Glasgow Rangers v Heart of Midlothian (SPL Championship Group)

Venue: Ibrox Park

Att: 50,817

To the bear-pit at Ibrox, where the hosts had renewed hope of winning their first title since the beginning of the decade following their 2-1 win at Parkhead at the weekend. For us, I had been on at the players incessantly between the conclusion of our meek surrender at Aberdeen and this one to make sure that we were infinitely better than we’d been then.

We’d secure third place with a point or better, if we lost we’d have to wait until Aberdeen’s visit to Motherwell the following evening to see if the race for 3^rd would go into the final day. The Dons would be here, at Ibrox, whilst we hosted Kilmarnock back in Edinburgh in what would be my final game at the helm of this terrific club.

Firstly though, an eighth and final tussle with the Old Firm to see if I could finally get the better of one of them and once and for all finish their title hopes.

Craig Halkett returned from his ban to return at centre-half alongside John Souttar whilst Anthony McDonald received a call into the starting XI in the place of Jamie Walker, who was carrying a slight niggle, and Craig Wighton got the nod up front alongside Conor as I chose to give Jay Charleston-King a little rest on the bench.

The atmosphere was febrile inside the ground, the Gers faithful really believed they could overhaul their local rivals and snatch the title from Celtic’s grasp. In the opening 20 minutes or so whilst their side piled on the pressure, we remained relatively untroubled, defending well and using possession well when we had it. Then, Steven Davis’ corner kick was headed away by Halkett, as it dropped, Alfredo Morelos unleashed a stunning volley that gave Pereira no chance and crashed back off the crossbar, Michael Smith was then able to hook it away just before Ryan Jack was able to pounce on the rebound.

6 minutes later, a cross from the left from Borna Barisic in behind our back four fell perfectly for Rhian Brewster, a member of the England Under-17 World Cup winning squad on-loan from Liverpool and up until this point, without a goal to his name for Rangers. The young striker did everything right from 6-yards out except score, and the only reason for that was the unbelievable reactions from Pereira who blocked brilliantly to his right pushing the ball behind for a corner kick. From Davis’ delivery, Joe Aribo won the header but planted his header straight at Pereira.

With two minutes of the 45 remaining, a free-kick delivered from deep into the penalty area by Ryan Kent caused a little bit of confusion amongst my back four and Brewster, who was by no means the tallest, rose highest to head goalwards. Unfortunately for him, his header was a fraction too high and Pereira was able to see it over the crossbar.

HALF TIME: Glasgow Rangers 0-0 Heart of Midlothian

I was content at the break, we hadn’t shown ourselves as much of an attacking force in the opening period but then I hadn’t expected us to. “You’re frustrating them and that’s fine, fellas,” I said. “The frustration amongst the fans is growing which is great for us. Keep working hard, keep getting in amongst them. Well done.”

It took fifteen minutes for the first serious opening of the second half to be created – a lovely little slide-rule pass by Davis played Brewster in behind White and the on-loan Liverpool man looked to beat Pereira at his near post rather than shooting across him. The Portuguese keeper stood up well though, covered any gap and Brewster’s effort rippled the side netting before ricocheting into a camera behind the goal.

8 minutes later, it looked as though Rangers had finally broken through, Connor Goldson played the ball into the penalty area finding Brewster and this time, rather than going himself, he found Morelos completely unmarked. The Colombian striker had the simplest of tasks to fire home from 8-yards out and delirium burst forth from three sides of the ground. Except. The Assistant on the far side had his flag raised. The referee, realising the enormity of the decision trotted over to have a word before awarding us an indirect free-kick. Morelos had strayed offside and the goal wouldn’t count.

That really deflated the hosts, belief evaporated and we were able to hold out comfortably, albeit without really testing Alan McGregor for a point that secured our 3^rd placed finish for the season. I was delighted, it was a first point of the season taken off Rangers, it had dented their title ambitions, even though they temporarily went above Celtic to the summit of the table and did pile pressure on for their visit of Kilmarnock, whilst our 16-goal advantage over Aberdeen in goal difference was unassailable.

“Eh, well done boys, that’s a superb effort that. Especially after the nonsense in the second half on Saturday. We can go out now at the weekend when Killie come to town and enjoy ourselves without any pressure. You can look forward to European football next season. A really good campaign, let’s go out on a high.”

I treated the boys to a beer in the dressing room after the game, they’d worked really hard all season, with one or two exceptions, and had done me proud.

FULL TIME: Glasgow Rangers 0-0 Heart of Midlothian

Team: Pereira, Smith, Souttar, Halkett, White, Montolivo, Whelan, McDonald (Walker), Meshino (Mulraney), Wighton (Charleston-King), Washington

[he_2]

Table as at Wednesday 13^th May 2020:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	37	28	7	2	83	27	91	56
Glasgow Rangers	37	28	4	5	83	22	88	61
Heart of Midlothian	37	21	9	7	77	49	72	28
Aberdeen	37	19	9	9	57	48	66	9
Kilmarnock	37	14	10	13	41	37	52	4
Motherwell	37	12	8	17	51	59	44	-8
Hibernian	37	12	10	15	53	61	46	-8
St Johnstone	37	9	11	17	42	57	38	-15
St Mirren	37	10	8	19	38	59	38	-21
Hamilton Academical	37	7	9	21	36	64	30	-28
Livingston	37	7	9	21	38	79	30	-41
Ross County	37	5	6	26	33	70	21	-37	R

 

Tuesday 12^th May

Rangers	0	0	Hearts
Ross County	1	1	Livingston
St Johnstone	2	2	St Mirren

 

Wednedsay 13^th May

Celtic	1	0	Kilmarnock
Motherwell	4	1	Aberdeen
Hamilton	1	3	Hibs

[he_2]

Sunday 17^th May 2020: Heart of Midlothian v Kilmarnock (SPL Championship Group)

Venue: Tynecastle

Att: 19,971

Here it was then, the final day of a successful campaign and we had sun. Lots and lots of sun. It was a bittersweet day, of course, for it was my last day leading Hearts out to battle. I had a lot to thank the club for, even though my relationship with the board had soured a little in the final few weeks. They’d taken a punt on me, put themselves up to ridicule and, at first, it looked as though their thinking was completely skewed. But now, more than ten months after my first game in charge here against Alloa in the League Cup, whilst our cup performances had been disappointing, our league performances had been very good. A win against Kilmarnock would see us grab 75 points, even better than our haul of 2005/6 where the club finished runners-up to Celtic.

Jamie Walker returned for Anthony McDonald, Jake Mulraney came in for Ryo Meshino and Jay Charleston-King also returned for Craig Wighton in the starting line-up, training in the lead up to the game had been fairly light-hearted to take the pressure off but the boys were in no doubt that I wanted to go out on a high. I could tell from the way they warmed up that the focus was there. The fans were in a party mood and chanting from long before kick-off, the players to their credit gave plenty of love back.

“Go out and enjoy yourselves, boys. Play without pressure, put on a show for those supporters who have backed you all season, even when you’ve not deserved it.” I said before the game.

Of course, the first half was a complete non-event. Real end of season fayre. Literally, nothing of note happened aside from us picking up a few yellow cards – three to be precise. Kilmarnock didn’t seem especially interested in putting on a show, so, when the break came I took things up a notch or two.

HALF TIME: Heart of Midlothian 0-0 Kilmarnock

“Come on lads,” I said, “that’s nonsense what you’ve just shown out there. I know I said no pressure and to enjoy yourselves but I also told you to put on a show. You’ve won so many admirers by playing the game in an open and adventurous way, all I’m asking for is another 45-minute show for those supporters out there who have paid so much of their hard-earned to back you. Soon as the game’s done, you can switch off and think about Magaluf or Florida or where-ever it is you’re headed for your holidays.”

It took a few minutes, but we got there. In the 54^th minute, a Montolivo corner kick was perfect for Halkett to meet with a thumping header from just inside the six-yard box that gave Laurentiu Branescu no chance at all for his third goal of the season.

That woke our visitors up as well, and three minutes later a deep free-kick was swung into the penalty area. Midfielder Gary Dicker got up highest to head towards goal but was deeply unfortunate to see the ball land on the top of the net.

After that, the game was more open although neither side had brought their shooting boots. Conor Washington, Jake Mulraney, Jamie Walker and Anthony McDonald all missed the target when well placed, whilst at the other end Eamon Brophy shot wide when sent clear by a Dicker ball.

The final piece of entertainment of the season came in the 2^nd minute of stoppage time. Walker won a high ball just inside the Killie half and then exchanged passes with Washington before cutting in off the left flank and sending a peach of a pass in behind for Charleston-King to run onto. The ball skipped off the surface and ran through to Branescu who, rather than picking the ball up chose to try and take a touch with his feet. The touch was heavy, Jay had again chased the hopeless ball and pounced dispossessing the Romanian goalkeeper. He fired an effort beyond the scrambling goalkeeper that rebounded off the outside of the post from the angle, the rebound looked to be falling nicely for the Branescu to gather, but Charleston-King nipped in, turned and then fired into the loose target for his third goal in just his fourth league start.

It made it 2-0, it gave the scoreline a little flourish and sealed the three points. I was absolutely delighted, out of the dugout punching the air in triumph.

The whistle went a few minutes later to bring the campaign to a close, there were handshakes all round and as we let our visitors clear the pitch, the players then embarked on a well-deserved lap of honour around the pitch, soaking up the acclaim of the support. I watched on from the centre-circle, listening to the singing, the cheering and watching as the players and in some cases, their children, took a slow circuit of the Tynecastle pitch – a pitch upon which they’d scored at better than 2 goals-per-game at home, put in some thrilling and entertaining performances and won 14 out of 19 matches. That wasn’t a bad record to be leaving with at all.

Over the tannoy music was playing, the atmosphere was absolutely bouncing.

I didn’t have a clue what lay ahead for me, but I knew that I’d miss this. 20,000 people all getting behind their heroes, it had been a privilege to have been part of and I was desperately sorry that this was going to be the final time that I’d experience this here. Tynecastle had been a terrific place to work, I had a lot of fondness for everyone at the club, from Nicola and Janet on reception through Ralph on security, from Jocky who’d given us such a great surface to perform on through to Ann who, as I said, had backed me all the way to begin with.

The players were slowly drifting off down the tunnel having completed their lap, and so I began to wander off towards the exit from the arena too. I took my phone out of my pocket to capture a few memories before I disappeared. All of a sudden I became aware of a chant from behind the goal to my right. “There’s only one, Jones Patterson! There’s only one, Jones Patterson! Walking along, singing our song, walking in a Jonesy wonderland!”

I don’t mind admitting, that caught me unawares and brought with it goosebumps. I stopped, turned, and walked down towards that end. Instead of basking in the acclaim like some kind of Messiah figure, I hopped over the advertising hoardings and went to shake hands with as many of the supporters as I could, walking along the front of the stand, applauding them, thanking them for their support. I ended up with countless scarves being donated to me, each of which I still have to this day, more than 50 years later. It took a quarter of an hour before I was finally back in the dressing room, the players all sat enjoying a beer and relaxing.

“Just a quick one, fellas.” The hum subsided. “Just wanted to say a couple of things.”

“Here we go, lads, another one of those boring lectures!” Christophe Berra called out.

“Ah, you’ll be missing them before you know it, Chrissy,” I said, “not that you ever took a blind bit of notice of a word I said!”

That provided a little ripple of laughter.

“It’s been a real pleasure this season, you’ve been brilliant. Well, except for Celtic away and that second half against Aberdeen, you’ve been brilliant.”

More laughter.

“I hope you look back on this season as something you can be proud of, each and every one of you have contributed to a memorable campaign. I won’t be here next season, but you can all kick-on and look to go better next term. Whether in the cups, going on a run in Europe, challenging those Glasgow lot, you’ve got the ability to do so, I absolutely believe you can do it. Thank you, from me, for everything. Go and enjoy your summers, give whoever the new boss is your full backing like you have me and I’m sure our paths will cross in the future.”

I went around the room, shaking hands with each and every member of the playing staff and the backroom team too, from the kitman right up to Austin, my second in command. Then, it was off to face the press for the final time as Hearts boss and up to the sponsor’s lounge for one last time.

It had been a long season, there had been challenges along the way but overall it had been a highly successful one. When I left Tynecastle at about 8:30pm – not for the last time, I had some loose ends to tie up over the next week or so before I finally left their employment – I did so with a smile on my face and a contented heart.

FULL TIME: Heart of Midlothian 2-0 Kilmarnock

Team: Pereira, Smith, Souttar, Halkett, White (Watson), Montolivo, Whelan, Walker, Mulraney (McDonald), Charleston-King, Washington

[he_2]

Scottish Premiership Final Table 2019/20 Season:

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	GD
Glasgow Celtic	38	29	7	2	86	29	94	57	C
Glasgow Rangers	38	28	4	6	83	24	88	59
Heart of Midlothian	38	22	9	7	79	49	75	30
Aberdeen	38	20	9	9	59	48	69	11
Kilmarnock	38	14	10	14	41	39	52	2
Motherwell	38	12	8	18	53	62	44	-9
Hibernian	38	12	11	15	54	62	47	-8
St Johnstone	38	10	11	17	45	58	41	-13
St Mirren	38	10	9	19	39	60	39	-21
Livingston	38	8	9	21	40	79	33	-39
Hamilton Academical	38	7	9	22	36	66	30	-30
Ross County	38	5	6	27	34	73	21	-39	R

 

Saturday 16^th May

Hamilton	0	2	Livingston
Hibs	1	1	St Mirren
St Johnstone	3	1	Ross County

 

Sunday 17^th May

Hearts	2	0	Kilmarnock
Motherwell	2	3	Celtic
Rangers	0	2	Aberdeen

[he_2]

Heart of Midlothian 2019/20 Season Statistics

Results

Date	Venue	Opposition	Comp	Score
17/07/2019	H	Alloa Athletic	LCGB	2-0
21/07/2019	A	Cowdenbeath	LCGB	2-0
24/07/2019	H	Elgin City	LCGB	5-0
27/07/2019	A	Arbroath	LCGB	0-0*
04/08/2019	H	Glasgow Rangers	SPL	0-3
11/08/2019	A	Aberdeen	SPL	1-2
20/08/2019	A	Motherwell	LC2	0-1
23/08/2019	A	St Johnstone	SPL	5-2
31/08/2019	A	Kilmarnock	SPL	2-2
14/09/2019	H	Hamilton Academicals	SPL	2-1
20/09/2019	H	Motherwell	SPL	4-1
28/09/2019	A	Glasgow Celtic	SPL	1-1
04/10/2019	A	St Mirren	SPL	3-1
18/10/2019	H	Hibernian	SPL	2-1
26/10/2019	H	Ross County	SPL	1-0
29/10/2019	A	Livingston	SPL	3-2
09/11/2019	H	Aberdeen	SPL	3-0
22/11/2019	A	Glasgow Rangers	SPL	2-4
30/11/2019	H	St Johnstone	SPL	2-1
04/12/2019	A	Hamilton Academicals	SPL	2-1
07/12/2019	H	Kilmarnock	SPL	1-2
15/12/2019	H	Glasgow Celtic	SPL	1-1
18/12/2019	A	Motherwell	SPL	5-1
21/12/2019	A	Hibernian	SPL	2-2
26/12/2019	H	St Mirren	SPL	2-1
29/12/2019	A	Ross County	SPL	3-1
19/01/2020	A	Annan Athletic	SC4	4-0
22/01/2020	H	Livingston	SPL	3-0
25/01/2020	H	Glasgow Rangers	SPL	0-1
28/01/2020	A	Aberdeen	SPL	1-1
01/02/2020	H	Hamilton Academicals	SPL	2-0
04/02/2020	A	St Johnstone	SPL	1-1
09/02/2020	H	Hibernian	SC5	1-1
15/02/2020	A	Kilmarnock	SPL	2-0
19/02/2020	A	Hibernian	SC5R	0-1
23/02/2020	A	Glasgow Celtic	SPL	0-4
04/03/2020	H	Motherwell	SPL	6-3
08/03/2020	H	Hibernian	SPL	4-1
14/03/2020	A	St Mirren	SPL	0-0
21/03/2020	H	Ross County	SPL	2-1
04/04/2020	A	Livingston	SPL	4-2
25/04/2020	H	Motherwell	SPL	1-0
02/05/2020	H	Glasgow Celtic	SPL	2-2
09/05/2020	A	Aberdeen	SPL	2-3
12/05/2020	A	Glasgow Rangers	SPL	0-0
17/05/2020	H	Kilmarnock	SPL	2-0

 

Appearances

		League			Scottish Cup			League Cup			Total
		A	S	G	A	S	G	A	S	G	A	S	G
Whelan	Glenn	37	0	1	3	0	0	4	0	0	44	0	1
Souttar	John	37	0	1	2	0	0	4	0	0	43	0	1
Pereira	Joel	35	0	0	3	0	0	5	0	0	43	0	0
Washington	Conor	33	2	17	2	0	0	5	0	4	40	2	21
Smith	Michael	34	0	1	2	0	0	3	0	0	39	0	1
White	Aidan	33	1	1	1	1	0	4	0	0	38	2	1
Montolivo	Riccardo	31	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	33	2	0
Ikpeazu	Uche	26	4	22	3	0	3	2	1	1	31	5	26
Walker	Jamie	27	4	6	0	0	0	3	1	1	30	5	7
Halkett	Craig	22	4	3	2	0	0	2	0	0	26	4	3
Mulraney	Jake	20	10	8	1	0	0	3	2	2	24	12	10
Naismith	Steven	16	4	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	18	4	6
Meshino	Ryo	14	11	3	2	1	2	1	1	1	17	13	6
Berra	Christophe	12	6	2	1	0	0	4	0	0	17	6	2
Clare	Sean	9	6	1	0	1	0	3	1	0	12	8	1
Haring	Peter	9	7	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	12	7	0
Hickey	Aaron	5	8	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	7	8	0
Brandon	Jamie	4	3	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	7	3	0
Charleston-King	Jay	4	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	5	1	3
Damour	Loic	2	4	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	4	5	0
Irving	Andy	2	3	0	1	0	0	1	2	0	4	5	0
McDonald	Anthony	2	6	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	3	7	0
Wighton	Craig	2	6	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	6	2
Zlamel	Zdenek	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0
Watson	Leo	1	5	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	6	0
MacLean	Steven	0	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	1	7	0
Bozanic	Oliver	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0

 

Record

	Home						Away						Total
	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
SPL	19	14	2	3	40	19	19	8	7	4	39	30	38	22	9	7	79	49
Scottish Cup	1	0	1	0	1	1	2	1	0	1	4	1	3	1	1	1	5	2
League Cup	2	2	0	0	7	0	3	1	1	1	2	1	5	3	1	1	9	1
Total	22	16	3	3	48	20	24	10	8	6	45	32	46	26	11	9	93	52

 

[he_2]

And that brings a close to the first chapter in my story, the Jones Patterson story. My career was up and running, I’d made a start. Sadly, I wouldn’t be continuing it with Hearts, but now the world was my oyster. I took a few days out after my contract expired to recharge my batteries and get away from the world of football before returning to my Edinburgh flat and begin to plot my next move.

[Celtic_1967]

This really is an excellent story. Very well written.