Heart of Midlothian

Image source, SNS

Few things are clicking for second-bottom Hearts this season, but arguably nothing has been more noticeable than the lack of goals Lawrence Shankland has scored.

For long enough, pundits and punters alike have worried at the weight the Scotland international carries upon his shoulders.

If he's not scoring, Hearts aren't scoring.

And scoring he is not, with just one league goal for the side who sit second bottom in the Scottish Premiership.

The Hearts striker has taken the most shots (43) and had the most amount of touches in the box (87). Twenty more than the next highest, Nicolas Kuhn.

Shankland's personal expected goals tally sits at 3.76, while the team's as a whole is 15.31. Mind, they've scored 14, the third lowest in the league.

Their shot conversion rate reads as 8.64%, also the third lowest in the league. While that's all concerning enough in it's own right, it gets bleaker when Hearts have actually had the second-most touches in the opposition box.

Only Celtic (436) have enjoyed more time in their opponent's box than the Gorgie club, who have notched up 343 touches and unleashed 162 shots - again, the third highest in the league.

It's an experienced squad, too. The average starting age of 27 years, 215 days is the oldest in the division, though that number is well boosted by Craig Gordon.

The veteran goalkeeper has conceded 16 goals, more than his xG tally of 13.62.

With a save percentage of 57.5, it's the second lowest among shotstoppers who have also played 11 or more games.

Image source, SNS

Kenneth Vargas says he is in no rush to leave Hearts and claimed his comments to Costa Rican media this week have been "misinterpreted".

The international forward reportedly said Scottish football is "not such a good level" and expressed a desire to leave Tynecastle in January to play "against better-level players".

The 22-year-old, who signed a five-year deal with Hearts in March after initially arriving on loan in summer 2023, has played 19 games for the club this season, scoring twice and providing one assist.

Vargas said on Instagram:, external "To the fans, team-mates and entire Hearts family. I want to take a moment to address some recent reports in the media that have misinterpreted my words and taken them out of context.

"I'd like to set the record straight: like any professional football player, I dream of playing in one of the top five leagues in the world. Achieving that dream, however, is a journey that requires immense time, dedication and relentless effort.

"I am fully aware that I am still young and have so much to learn both on and off the pitch. Every day I am committed to improving myself and growing into the best version of the athlete I aspire to be.

"I am incredibly fortunate and grateful for the support I receive from Hearts and our passionate fans. The club is more than a team to me - it's my home. I am determined to give my heart and soul to this club, honouring the trust and opportunity they have given me.

"The support I feel from my team-mates, the coaching staff, and the community fuels my motivation to push harder and contribute to our collective success.

"I want to emphasise my gratitude: I am privileged to be where I am today and I remain focused on making the most of every moment and repaying the faith that's been placed in me. Thank you for all your continued support."

Image source, SNS

Hearts forward Kenneth Vargas said Scotland does not have "a very good footballing level" and expressed a desire to leave Tynecastle in January to play against "better level players", while on international duty with Costa Rica. (ESPN, in Spanish), external

Vargas' teammate Jorge Grant - who is out of contract at the end of the season - says he would like to stay in Edinburgh, but a new deal has "not been discussed". (Daily Record), external

Image source, SNS

Hearts academy graduate Adam Forrester has capped his breakout season by signing a contract extension until 2027.

The 19-year-year-old defender made his debut in July and his racked up eight appearances, including starts in all three of the club's Conference League games so far.

Head Coach Neil Critchley said: "Adam has progressed excellently this season and we are pleased to have rewarded his development with this contract extension."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

The defeats to Rangers at Ibrox and Heidenheim at Tynecastle have stalled Hearts' return to form under Neil Critchley.

The home loss to the Bundesliga side is unlikely to deny Hearts progress in the Conference League, with three games still left to play before the knockout stages begin.

And although Sunday's narrow league loss to Rangers was hard to take there has been some positivity on the pitch in those two matches.

The team had equal share of possession at Ibrox and with a little more composure in front of goal could have been heading back along the M8 with much more than an empty pocket.

Similarly, against Heidenheim, Hearts had no fewer than 17 attempts on goal. Lawrence Shankland from last season would have had a field day.

Between now and the new year there are seven Premiership matches to negotiate, with five of those taking place at Tynecastle.

In addition they have Conference League trips to Cercle Brugge and FC Copenhagen followed by the visit of Moldovan side Petrocub to Tynecastle.

But it's the league position - currently second bottom - that is the most important factor of Hearts' season.

This is where the club's success or failure will be judged and simply has to improve as a bottom-six end to the season is nowhere close to where the club's expectations lie.

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your questions on Hearts.

Greg asked: Tom, do you think it's a good thing that the third-place team in the Premiership makes the Conference League group stages in successive years? We've seen Hearts struggle in the league, then Aberdeen and now Hearts again. Is it too much of a stretch for Scottish teams to balance the demands of both?

Tom answered: It's hard. It's definitely hard. But you'd rather have that challenge than not have it.

You'd rather have European money than not have it. And it's difficult for managers, sometimes it can cost them their job, that extra stress of competing in Europe without maybe the requisite resources in terms of playing personnel can push you into a cycle.

Domestically, a lot of managers have seen that. It's been difficult for Kilmarnock this season. Previously it was difficult for Aberdeen, it was difficult for Hearts. It's tough and the manager doesn't get any sympathy.

The demand on them to win matches remains the same, but they've got all these extra European games to deal with. It's brilliant for the club, it's brilliant for the prestige of the club, it's brilliant for the fans when they get their away trips.

But sometimes it's not great for the manager because he has to pick up the pieces and get the team on the park on a Thursday and a Sunday. That can be brutally difficult.

BBC Scotland's chief sportswriter Tom English has been answering your questions on Hearts.

Tennent asked: Do you think the rumoured Tony Bloom and Starlizard investment is going to pose a threat to the Old Firm?

Tom answered: I think this is potentially seismic for Hearts. I genuinely do. Because this Jamestown Analytics company are fascinating.

They're a bit mysterious. They're very secretive, but they're very successful. Any of the clubs that they go into, they improve them. No doubt about it.

And we're not just talking about Brighton here, that's their pin-up. They've done it in other clubs, smaller clubs, clubs of similar sizes to Hearts. And if they can identify players that make Hearts a better team, that can then be sold on for profit, that's potentially game changing.

I don't think it's game changing to the extent they're going to challenge Celtic, I think Celtic are in a different sphere financially, but they could get into the shake-up for second place and change the landscape in this country.

If this works out for Hearts and if they're seen to be buying in unheralded players who do well and then are sold on for profit, then everyone is going to want to get involved in analytics more than they already are.

Jamestown will only take on a limited number of clubs. Hearts are their club in Scotland, but there are other companies out there that are dealing with this. Maybe not as sophisticated or as successful as Jamestown, but there are other clubs doing this. I could think of a few clubs, maybe not far from Tynecastle, that could do with some help on recruitment.

It's not the future, it's the present. Every club in the Premier League down in England, they're pretty much involved in this to an extent. They can afford to be, they've got buckets of money. But I think every club in Scotland is going to have to engage in this.

This is why everyone is looking at Hearts and Jamestown and what happens here. They were involved in the selection of Neil Critchley, the new manager. So that's the first examination. And the next window in January, that would be the next examination of their worth.

It's a very interesting addition to the landscape up here. What are Hearts going to do? They're going to have to do something, because where they are at the moment is mortifying.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Craig Gordon is convinced Hearts and Scotland team-mate Lawrence Shankland will soon be back to his goalscoring best.

Shankland has netted just once for the Edinburgh side in 18 matches this season after hitting 59 across his first two years at Tynecastle.

Despite his barren run, the 29-year-old striker has been recalled to Steve Clarke's Scotland squad for their upcoming Nations League games against Croatia and Portugal.

Goalkeeper Gordon, who is expected to start the double-header with Angus Gunn still out injured, said of Shankland: "Everybody knows what a good goalscorer he is and sooner rather than later that will come back.

"I have been training with him over the last few weeks and I can see in training he is giving absolutely everything. At times his touch has been really good and he has been scoring goals in training.

"It just hasn't materialised in matches but I have absolutely no doubt he will be back scoring goals very soon. He is too good a player for that to last for any length of time.

"It's great that he is here and I am sure the goals will be back before too long."

Scotland assistant John Carver also has full faith in the 29-year-old.

"When you're a good player and you’re a goalscorer, eventually that barren spell happens," Carver said.

"We all know what he's about. He's a goalscorer, he gets between the posts, he plays inside the 18-yard box. If he has to play for us or start or come on, that's what we want him to do and we’ll encourage him to do that.

"The good thing is, he's actually getting into those positions to actually try and score goals. It's just not coming off for him now, where it did last season and the season before that.

"So, everybody's in full support of Lawrence. We love him to bits and the players around him understand it."

Greg Playfair
Fan writer

As supporters start to prepare their Christmas wishlists, not many Jambos would have thought they had to request that the Premiership table was turned upside down so that Hearts were second top rather than second bottom.

Whilst it's not an ideal position to find ourselves in when the league recommences towards the end of November, we shouldn't be panicking.

Neil Critchley has taken charge of seven matches now with three victories, one draw and three defeats, with the latest loss coming against Rangers.

In fairness, I wasn't expecting three points as our record at Ibrox is notoriously poor.

There was still some disappointment, however, considering this is a Rangers side in turmoil on and off the pitch, and it was perhaps the best opportunity we will have to pick up something up there.

Their goal probably sums up our season in that one or two individuals make an error – on this occasion, not tracking runners – and the ball is bundled into the net. It wasn't a moment of quality and that will be so frustrating for Critchley.

Our best opportunity was the Kenneth Vargas chance early in the second half and again a player who gets goals by being instinctive seemed possessed with too many thoughts in his head about what to do.

The problem with Hearts isn't getting chances - it's scoring them. We have the third highest total of shots on goal (162) in the league (only behind Celtic and Rangers). It will probably come as no surprise that Lawrence Shankland has had the most shots with 29 and just one goal in return.

I absolutely don't buy into this 'drop Shankland and strip him of the captaincy' chat I've heard among some Jambos. He's clearly one of our best players and simply struggling for confidence in front of goal.

With five of our next six league games at Tynecastle, I'm hoping this week allows Critchley to really drill in his ideas on style of play for the busy December period and help us to rise up the league table.

Sportscene pundits Billy Dodds and Lee Miller analyse Hearts' 1-0 defeat at Rangers and recently-appointed head coach Neil Critchley's impact so far.

(Available to UK users only)

Image source, SNS

Cammy Devlin says Hearts need to take more points from "positive" performances after a frustrating defeat at Ibrox.

The Edinburgh side sit second bottom of the Scottish Premiership table with nine points from their opening 13 games.

Thanks to Cyriel Dessers' early goal on Sunday, Rangers squeezed past Hearts, who had chances in each half through Kenneth Vargas for a deserved equaliser.

After opening his tenure with wins of St Mirren and Omonia, Neil Critchley has picked up just one victory in the following five games.

"I feel like it's the story of the season in a lot of ways," midfielder Devlin said.

"Where you come off thinking we played really well, but just don't get a result.

"It's just frustrating when you play the way we do, and don't get a goal.

"I hope watching it is encouraging, because the message [Critchley's] given us is to play and be brave, because he obviously thinks that there's quality within the squad to do that.

"And I feel that since he's come in, even in some of the games we've won, the games we've drawn, the games we've lost, that the actual performances have been positive.

“We walk away from Ibrox without a point. At minimum it needs to be a point because of how we played.

“We're sitting not where we should be on the table. So I think every time we step out on the training pitches, there's got to be a purpose to improve and to get better as an individual, as a team."

Musa Drammeh's work-rate and sharpness has forced him back into the Hearts first team picture, says head coach Neil Critchley. (Edinburgh Evening News - subscription), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish gossip

We asked for your views on Hearts' 1-0 Premiership defeat by Rangers at Ibrox.

Here's a taste of what you had to say:

Richard: Another high-energy performance but we're really struggling for someone who can put the ball in the net. Lawrence Shankland and Kenneth Vargas are out of goals, James Wilson is too soon out of the youth sides, Liam Boyce is out of something - touch? Fitness? Favour? And Musa Drammeh is out of the unknown. I assume the club did have players in mind expecting money to arrive for Shankland.

Bryan: It would be so easy to say 'another Hearts away loss in Glasgow', but the way we played and our attitude towards an away game at Ibrox was vastly different under Neil Critchley to what we have seen before. Vargas is still young but big moments make big chances that big players take. Shankland played well but we need his killer instinct back pronto!

David: Yet another opportunity missed through inept finishing, much like the European game in midweek. Please can we have the Shankland of last season back. If we don’t bring strikers in during the January window then I fear for the rest of the season.

Anon: Thought we did well. Misplaced passes was our downfall. Better team by far. Need cutting edge.

Image source, SNS

Tony Watt knows a thing or two about the pressures of playing for Hearts. When he joined on loan in 2016, aged just 22, he was brought in as the main striker for a club pushing for a European place.

It didn't quite work out like that. After a promising start, he scored just one goal in 17 appearances and his loan spell was cut short in January.

Interestingly, that is the exact same record that Lawrence Shankland has this season. The Hearts skipper is enduring an uncharacteristically barren run, but Watt has backed him to come good.

"His all-round play is excellent," the current Motherwell forward said on the Scottish Football Podcast. "He holds the ball up, he creates chances for other people.

"It's just a case of the manager showing him belief and him just resetting and hitting the target again every time he can. He'll score goals, he's a goal scorer and that's the way he has always been. He'll come back strong."

Hearts need their main man to start scoring again. After a promising start under new head coach Neil Critchley, momentum has petered out with losses to Kilmarnock, Heidenheim and Rangers.

However, Watt has seen enough in the performances to encourage Hearts fans.

"I think the signs are positive coming out of Tynecastle," he said. "Midweek, by all accounts, they were supposed to have been on top for the majority of the game against a Bundesliga team.

"They won at St Johnstone and they were unlucky against Killie the game before. If they keep ticking along at this pace, I think they'll be okay, it will take them time just to get to the new manager's ways."

Watch highlights from Rangers Scottish Premiership win over Hearts.

Available to UK users only.

What would you like to ask Tom English about Hearts?

Our chief sportswriter is in the hotseat ready to answer your questions and offer his insight and opinion on your club.

Answers will be provided on Tuesday’s episode of the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast and on this page later in the week.

Put your questions to Tom here., external

Hearts boss Neil Critchley believes there should have been more added time in their 1-0 defeat by Rangers at Ibrox. (Herald - subscription), external

Read Monday's Scottish gossip

Unconvincing Rangers narrowly overcame Hearts at Ibrox to return to within nine points of Scottish Premiership pacesetters Celtic and Aberdeen.

Despite a quick and slick start, which was rewarded with an early Cyriel Dessers goal, Philippe Clement’s side failed to build on their early breakthrough and limped to victory instead of storming to it.

Dessers’ 10th of the season, and third in three games, was the difference as both sides showed signs of a midweek European hangover.

The returning James Tavernier - who started on the bench against Olympiakos on Thursday - tore down the right and struck goalwards, and his effort appeared to be diverted past Craig Gordon by Dessers' deft close-range touch.

Give us your thoughts on the game here., external

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

The takeaway from Thursday was that losing to Heidenheim was an opportunity missed for Hearts. There’s a case they’ll see this as one, too.

They started far too slowly and stuttered through the first 20 minutes or so, but then became the more dominant and commanding side, without troubling Jack Butland’s goal all too much.

Doing the former at Ibrox is rare, the latter is all too familiar. And that’s where the frustration lies.

On the journey home, many in maroon will be left thinking a combination of ‘What if? How did that happen? And when will Lawrence Shankland score again?’.

Amy Canavan
BBC Sport Scotland

Image source, SNS

This was an all too familiar show for the restless Rangers support.

They had reason to be optimistic after a hard-fought and potentially precious point in Greece, and a sharp start here, but that positivity soon dissipated.

Instead of going for the jugular, Rangers retreated further and further and welcomed Hearts into their final third. Luckily, the visitors weren’t up to much once they got there.

The deeper the home side got on the pitch and the deeper the contest got, the more frustrated the fans and Clement grew at the disjointed and disappointing play.

Rangers know they can’t afford to lose anymore ground on the top two, and while they didn’t do that this weekend, performances of this ilk will not be enough to claw back the gap. And neither will they be tolerated.

Image source, SNS

Hearts head coach Neil Critchley: "We started the game tentatively with the worst possible start. We grew into the game, though, second half especially.

"In some ways I'm proud in the way we took the game to Rangers and played like a real Hearts team, but I'm also as equally as disappointed that we haven't got something from the game.

"I don't want us to be a nearly team, we've got to show the mentality every game home and away. We didn't come here to sit against the ropes, we wanted to take the game to Rangers and we done that.

"I've been pleased with the progress of the team but we're in the very early stages of our development.

"I don't want pats on the back for losing games, though."

Image source, SNS

Ianis Hagi and Danilo return to the Rangers squad after not being part of the European squad. Ridvan Yilmaz and Rabbi Matondo are pushing for returns while Oscar Cortes is further behind. Tom Lawrence is out for four to six weeks with a leg injury.

Hearts manager Neil Critchley expects to be selecting from an unchanged squad. Yutaro Oda and Calem Nieuwenhof are both closing in on a return but not expected to be ready for Ibrox.