Heart of Midlothian

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Goalkeeper Craig Gordon will go into the upcoming Nations League games "unfazed" by the prospect of coming straight back into the team, says former Scotland boss Alex McLeish.

With Angus Gunn dropping out of the squad injured, 41-year-old Gordon is in line to start against Croatia and Portugal just months after the Hearts man thought his international career might have been over.

Regardless of his age, McLeish insists the veteran keeper, who has won 75 caps and became Scotland's oldest international with an appearance off the bench against Finland in June, will still have the drive and ability to shine in a tough double-header against Croatia and Portugal.

"He's got fantastic experience and will go into these games unfazed," McLeish told BBC Scotland. "You still get that adrenaline rush, whatever age you are.

"Angus has been tremendous for us, he's been an ever-present almost, but we’ve got a good man going in to back him up."

After failing to "meet the standards" Scotland set in qualifying with a poor showing at the Euros in Germany in summer, McLeish is backing head coach Steve Clarke to turn things around amid a poor run of just one win in 14 games.

But Clarke has been rocked by an injury crisis, which has the former Scotland boss fearing another challenging camp.

"Steve will definitely be wanting to try and get some sort of positive result because it is a difficult time when you lose a lot of your players," he added.

"It's a really tough one but he's still got some players who are in great form at the moment. And he always sets them up well in these away games.

"But if he loses a lot of the quality in the team then that is going to make it much more difficult. Believe me, it’s all about the quality of the players at the end of the day."

Hearts midfielder Yan Dhanda says the All India Football Federation wants to call him into their international squad to aid their World Cup qualifying bid, but the country's government is standing by its rule not to call up players from outside India. (Scottish Sun), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Hearts were beaten 3-1 by Raith Rovers in a testimonial match for Rovers' midfielder Ross Matthews during which several first-team players were handed minutes.

Blair Spittal opened the scoring before the break at Stark's Park having also netted in the weekend's defeat by Aberdeen.

However, Rovers hit back through second-half goals from Lewis Jamieson, Jack Hamilton, and Dylan Easton.

Alongside Spittal, Hearts also gave game time to Barrie McKay, Jorge Grant, Malachi Boateng, Yutaro Oda, Liam Boyce, Yan Dhanda, Adam Forrester, Craig Halkett, James Penrice, and Alan Forrest, as well as several young players.

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Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

After the euphoria of a last minute-winner in Azerbaijan night to kick off their Conference League campaign in style, the harsh realities of football were once again thrust upon Hearts at Pittodrie on Sunday.

A gallant performance, probably the best of the season, was delivered but the footballing gods were not looking down favourably on the Tynecastle club.

It's now time to take stock and prepare for some huge matches after the International break. And the burning question is who will be in charge by the time St Mirren come to Tynecastle on Saturday week?

CEO Andrew McKinlay has been holding a series of interviews over the past week with a view to identifying two or three candidates worthy of chatting to a second time.

He has said it won't be a Scot who will be handed the role on a permanent basis and some Hearts fans will be pleased they are looking further afield for a replacement for Steven Naismith.

The importance of this appointment, though, cannot be underestimated. Every new head coach or managerial appointment can be looked upon as a risk but on this occasion there is very little room for error.

Scottish football is littered with people who arrive feeling they can reinvent the wheel and take their club to the top end of the game. But this will be tough. With Hearts rooted at the bottom of the Premiership, the new manager will not have the luxury of a 'honeymoon period' to bed himself in.

He must hit the ground running and somehow find a way to get a winning tune out of the players at his disposal.

In the meantime the focus is on the board and who they choose. Time is not on their side but similarly this is not a decision that should be rushed.

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Craig Gordon is determined to reclaim the Scotland number one jersey for Saturday's Nations League match in Croatia just four months after fearing his international career was over.

The 41-year-old was cut from Scotland's Euro 2024 squad a week before the tournament began, with Angus Gunn, Liam Kelly and his Hearts colleague Zander Clark getting the nod to go to Germany.

With none of the Euros trio in the current squad - Gunn withdrawing due to injury and Clark and Kelly left out as a result of not playing at club level - Gordon is expected to win his 76th cap by being chosen ahead of uncapped duo Jon McCracken and Robby McCrorie to make his first Scotland start in almost two years.

"I just want to see where we go over this week, try and get myself in the team for the first game over in Croatia and see where it goes," said Gordon.

"There's no long-term thoughts other than just trying to play the next game and if I manage to play that one, then the one after that. It's really as short-term as that at the moment.

"Most other countries have probably gone through that [changing goalkeepers] a lot more. We've just had a very stable, settled group of goalkeepers over the last 20 years, and perhaps even longer.

"It's our turn to maybe be in the middle of that with injuries and players not playing."

Gordon's return to the national team comes after ousting Clark as first choice at Hearts amid a "strange" time, with the Tynecastle club winless and bottom of the Premiership after eight games.

"Winning games would help, keeping clean sheets would help, but it's been a difficult period for everybody," he added.

"I've been making saves in games and we've still been losing, so it's not going to get highlighted as much as it would if you contribute to a winning performance.

"It's a very strange time. I don't think I've ever been in a run quite like this at any stage of my career, so it's a bit new to me to go on a run as bad as this. It's not nice.

"I want to get back to winning matches and then I'll feel a bit better about myself, regardless of personal performances."

Greg Playfair
Fan writer

It's fair to say there are maroon shoots of recovery despite the 3-2 defeat at Pittodrie.

It's the best 90-minute performance we have seen from the team this season and we really should have been heading back down the A90 with at least at point.

I'm not one to single out individuals for errors, but you could look at either the Jorge Grant sending off or Kenneth Vargas ballooning over the bar as moments that perfectly represent our season to date.

We've seen individual mistakes in practically all our games, which have cost us dearly, but Grant’s foul on Duk while on a booking is arguably the worst given it swung the pendulum of momentum back in Aberdeen’s favour as we went down to 10 men.

Vargas' earlier opportunity, while the match was still 1-1, is glossed over by some given we still went on to score the next goal, but still makes me curse out loud as he spurned the option to play in Lawrence Shankland.

One of the big positives was the performance of some of our new signings. It could be said it was the best performance so far from Blair Spittal, Yan Dhanda, James Penrice and Daniel Oyegoke.

I think the reason for that is Liam Fox has kept it simple with his tactics, not overcoaching players like Steven Naismith did – with Gerard Taylor being a prime example – and playing them in their best positions.

I like the young right-back Adam Forrester, but he’s looked raw in his last two appearances and the solid game from Oyegoke, who has taken knee-jerk criticism already in his short Hearts spell, including from Sportsound pundit Allan Preston, augurs well and I hope that he gets a run of games to show why he has been a regular England youth international all the way up to Under-20s.

There's so much conjecture as to who our next head coach will be that even Agatha Christie would be on tenterhooks to trying to keep up with the speculation.

If it is to be a non-British managerial appointment as expected, that would certainly mean Fox and his staff will still be in charge for the St Mirren and Hibernian games, as we would need to get a work permit for the new man.

Given how each game has got incrementally better with Fox leading the team, that points to a 5-1 scudding of Hibs at Easter Road, which something I could get on board with before we start life under our new foreign, hipster manager.

Lawrence Shankland believes VAR should have been allowed to intervene for Nicky Devlin's Aberdeen goal during Hearts' 3-2 loss at Pittodrie, and insists he is unbothered by jibes about his weight from opposition fans. (Edinburgh Evening News, external)

Hearts are close to concluding an investment deal with Brighton owner Tony Bloom, which chief executive Andrew McKinlay believes can help "close the gap" to Celtic and Rangers. (Edinburgh Evening News, external)

Read the rest of Wednesday's Scottish gossip.

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Scotland assistant John Carver says it's as if Craig Gordon has "never been away" from the international side as the 41-year-old eyes his 76th cap.

The Hearts goalkeeper was left out of Scotland's Euros squad in the summer and many believed his international career may be up.

But Gordon, who has reclaimed the number one spot at Tynecastle from Zander Clark, is now in line to start Saturday's Nations League game in Croatia after Angus Gunn added to the lengthy list of injury absentees.

"It's as if he has never been away," Carver said.

"He just walked in as if he is part of the fixture and fittings.

"If you think about the last conversation with Steve [Clarke] was after he had just had his 75th cap and he said to Steve, 'I want back to get 76 and 77', that is his attitude.

"Although he's 41, he has had three years out injured so in the football world he is really 38."

Former Hearts coach Gordon Forrest has joined Chinese club Shenzhen Peng City until the end of the year. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Another ex-Hearts employee, Joe Savage, has set up a consultancy that will help broker deals between agents, clubs and players, after leaving the sporting director post at Tynecastle. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read the rest of Tuesday's Scottish gossip.

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Blair Spittal says Hearts' good performance against Aberdeen "counts for nothing".

Despite going a goal down early on at Pittodrie, Frankie Kent got the side back level before Spittal sent the Edinburgh outfit in front.

But Jorge Grant's sending off was followed by a late goal from Aberdeen to snatch all three points.

"I think you could see that, given the run we have been on the amount of fans that stayed behind to see us off the park," Spittal said.

"I think they can see the efforts are definitely getting put in by all the boys.

"The results aren't going the way that we want but performance levels that were there, and the effort we put into the game, it is the little things like that we need to hang on to and take into the next game.

"We know the demands of this football club and what is expected that they we go out make sure we put in good performances but at the same time we need to get results.

"Thursday was a good night for us but it is disappointing we weren’t able to back that up.

"Aberdeen are in a good bit of form but I think for large parts I thought we were the better team but at the end of the day it counts for nothing."

Hearts fans, we asked for your thoughts after Sunday's late defeat to Aberdeen.

Here's what some of you had to say:

Stefan: Once again Hearts are the masters of their own downfall - a completely unnecessary challenge changes a game that was there to be won. The performance was good overall - Blair Spittal and Yan Dhanda very effective (who'd have thought playing them in their correct positions would result in a good performance?). We just need Lawrence Shankland to get the scoring boots on!

Chris: Incredibly unlucky and we didn’t deserve to lose but we have won games we should have lost before and that's how it goes, just feels like we deserve a break. We look a different team with Dhanda playing, he's exciting. Jorge Grant is a marmite character and he cost us today. Forget the ref, forget Aberdeen's antics - the tunnel is getting lighter.

Jamie: Another defeat. Another clueless team selection. We need a new manager in right now, no cheap options. Why can't a club like us not attract a big name? I fear for us this season. I don’t think we will get relegated but we will struggle to get out of the bottom three.

Fraser: Without a doubt the best performance of the season, which makes it all the more painful not to take any points down the road. Unfortunately, individual mistakes cost Hearts dearly, with the two most significant coming from Kenneth Vargas and Grant. Both let the team down badly today and frankly cost a point, if not three.

Paul: For the first time this season we had a real glimpse of what is possible with the new signings, you can start to see the belief again. It was refreshing to see a more attack-minded team but we need to sharpen up in front of goal.

Ian: We won't catch Aberdeen now. We might get top six but forget a European place. To err is human but you must learn from mistakes, Jorge Grant hasn't. He had a stupid sending off in a European match a couple of years ago. As for Vargas, he couldn't hit a coo's backside with a banjo! Some players need to be moved on in January and a goalscorer signed.

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• Hearts have failed to win in their last 10 games in the Premiership, their last joint longest winless streak was from 23rd November 2019 to 22nd January 2020.

• Aberdeen have scored in their last 12 games in the Premiership, their longest run of games with a goal in the competition since a run of 12 games from 17th January 2016 to 8th April 2016.

• Aberdeen have won their last 7 games in the Premiership, their last joint longest winning streak was from 25th February 2023 to 23rd April 2023.

• Hearts have conceded 3 goals to opposition substitutes in the Premiership this season, only St. Johnstone (4) have conceded more.

• Aberdeen have scored 3 goals via substitutes in the Premiership this season, no team has more.

Watch highlights as Aberdeen beat Hearts in the Scottish Premiership.

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Interim Hearts manager Liam Fox insists the ball was still moving at a free-kick which led to Aberdeen's second goal at Pittodrie, while revealing Jorge Grant has apologised for his sending off, having picked up his first booking for complaining about the incident. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read the rest of Monday's Scottish gossip.

Are Hearts fans confident a new manager can turn this season round or is it simply a salvage job?

The visitors were unfortunate to be on the losing side at Pittodrie but need to sharpen up their finishing.

A daft red card certainly did not help.

Send your thoughts here.

Hearts' interim head coach Liam Fox told BBC Scotland: "Frustration, disappointment. For large spells, the team were really good, created loads of chances, dominated possession for long spells, showed lots of energy. That pleases me off the back of a challenging week.

"The players deserve great credit. It would've been easy for them to go under and feel sorry for themselves because Aberdeen are on a brilliant run - it's a red-hot atmosphere out there.

"But we weathered that, got ourselves back in the game. I was proud of the players. Their effort and commitment was really good."

On Jorge Grant's dismissal, Fox revealed he was initially unaware the midfielder had been booked before his second caution

"It was heat of the moment, but there's no doubt that, when Jorge got sent off, the flow of the game definitely changed and it had a massive impact," he said.

Colin Moffat
BBC Sport Scotland

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For long spells Hearts were the more menacing side and coming away with nothing to show for their efforts will sting.

They did not look like a side with just two points and one just back from a midweek trip to Azerbaijan, shrugging off the disappointment of conceding an unfortunate goal so early.

The dismissal of Grant was an obvious turning point, with his second booking coming on 75 minutes for a sliding challenge on Duk.

The midfielder's first caution - for dissent after Devlin's leveller - had gone unnoticed by many.

Shankland shot straight at the keeper from near the penalty spot and sent an awkward volley over the top when a header looked the better option.

So prolific over the past few seasons, the Scotland striker was perhaps fortunate to avoid a first-half red card, with his one yellow for a hack on Jamie McGrath, coming in the midst of two tussles with Jack MacKenzie and an angry barge on Slobodan Rubezic.

Shankland's exasperation was evident and the captain was apoplectic when Vargas passed up his glorious chance on 55 minutes.

Hearts will hope to appoint a new head coach before their next outing at home to St Mirren in 13 days and there were signs of promise to build on here, along with the frustrating failings.

Hearts will be kicking themselves after throwing away a great chance to register their first Premiership win of the season.

Blair Spittal's first goal for the club was a cracker and he was a busy presence in midfield, looking more like the player who was so consistent for Motherwell last term.

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Aberdeen striker Pape Gueye was this week ruled out until early 2025 with a quad muscle tear and midfielder Dante Polvara remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Hearts midfielder Beni Baningime will be assessed after going off with what interim boss Liam Fox described as "fatigue" during Thursday's win over Dinamo Minsk.

Musa Drammeh is back in contention after not being included in the squad for European matches. Calem Nieuwenhof (hamstring) and Gerald Taylor (knee) are both out.

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• The last nine league meetings between Aberdeen and Hearts have all been won by the side playing on home soil. Indeed, none of the last 20 league meetings between the two sides have seen an away win (16 home wins, 4 draws) since a 2-1 Aberdeen victory at Tynecastle in May 2017.

• Hearts have lost each of their last eight league visits to Aberdeen, conceding 2+ goals each time, since a goalless draw in December 2017. Their last such win came in May 2016 (1-0) thanks to Abiola Dauda's goal.

• Aberdeen, along with Celtic, are one of two sides with a 100% win rate in this season's Scottish Premiership (6/6). The last side to win each of their opening seven games of a campaign in the competition were Aberdeen in 2015-16 (first 8).

• Hearts are bottom of the Scottish Premiership table with two points in seven games (D2 L5). Should they lose this match, they will be only the second side in the last 19 seasons (2006-07 to 2024-25) to have two or fewer points in their opening eight matches of a top-flight campaign, after Dundee United in 2022-23 (2).

• Hearts have scored four goals from 7.2 expected goals (xG) in the Scottish Premiership this season, the biggest underperformance of any side (-3.2), while their shot conversion rate of 4.3% is also a league low.

Yan Dhanda, 25, had a gut feeling he would score Hearts' late winner over Dinamo Minsk in the Conference League. (Record), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip