Heart of Midlothian

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

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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."

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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.

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• Rangers are unbeaten in 16 meetings with Heart of Midlothian in all competitions (W12 D4) since a 0-2 Scottish Cup quarter-final loss in February 2020.

• Hearts are without a win in their last 16 away games at Rangers in all competitions (D3 L13) since a 2-1 victory on the opening day of the 2014-15 Scottish Championship season.

• Rangers have won 18 of their last 20 home league games (D1 L1), including each of their last seven in a row, and all five so far in 2024-25.

• Hearts have accumulated as many points in four league games under Neil Critchley (7 – W2 D1 L1) as their previous 12 league matches before he joined combined (W1 D4 L7).

• Vaclav Cerny has scored four goals in his five home appearances in the Scottish Premiership for Rangers, including three in his last two. Those four goals are the most by any player for the club home and away in the league this season.

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Sacked head coach Steven Naismith remains convinced he could have turned Hearts' fortunes around had he been given more time.

The former Scotland striker was dismissed in September after Hearts, who were bottom of the table, suffered an eighth straight defeat.

Naismith, 38, had led the club to third place last term, his first full season as a manager.

Speaking on The Warm-up, the SPFL's weekly preview show,, external Naismith said: "I don't think you know, or I certainly didn't know.

"I understood that you look at results and you go 'Right, if we can get a result here, if we don't that builds the pressure.'

"Inside I was probably thinking you'll get to the international break because it was three games there and they were probably games that you're more likely to look at and go, 'Right – we should win. Ross County at home, the European game and then a big one is going to be Aberdeen.'

"But even after the St Mirren game when we get beat 2-1, I'm sitting there really still believing that we can turn this around and I can make this better.

"And then when you have the phone call the next day that is what it is."

Naismith said he was "comfortable" with how things ended despite his disappointment, but believes Hearts would have improved once his summer signings had settled.

"There's a bit of frustration there because you do believe," he said.

"I thought we did a good job but at the cold end of it, pressure and demands are there and if you don't hit them you're going to lose your job and that's what happened, so I'm comfortable with it all.

"I think nobody complained about the recruitment over the summer.

"You sign players and you think at the start of a season, 'Brilliant, we've got this option, that option', but probably the bit you can't judge is how much time players are going to take to settle, especially when for nearly every player we signed, Hearts is a bigger club than where they came from."

We asked for your views on the 2-0 home defeat by Heidenheim that ended Hearts' 100% start in the Conference League.

Here's what some of you said:

Bryan: That's been the story of our season so far, play well and dominate but fail to take our chances and then we are made to pay. Can't fault the fight and dig at all though. The effort and application the manager is bringing out in us is fantastic and as soon as we start converting those chances, things will look a lot brighter.

Mark: We have had the same issues all season so far. Fantastic first-half performance from the team but due to lack of strikers we simply cannot score goals. Second half is always average. We are too predictable. I reckon we will still finish top six but there will be no European football next season. We need to sign a striker in January.

Paul: All the positive things that we do are overshadowed by a lightweight frontline. If your striker is a yard slow, missing sitters every week, then that's what you need to fix. We were a delight to watch for a good part of the game and could have won it, it's just frustrating.

David: For the most part we played well but yet again our failure in front of goal was our undoing. Last season's Lawrence Shankland would have converted at least two of his chances. Sadly he gets no support in the striker department and this must be addressed in the January window.

Chris: Frustration. No disrespect to our opponents but they were there for the taking. We bossed the game first half and had a very average second half, as is the norm. I feel that a higher press might have given us better results. So disappointed to lose, we are so soft in defence too often. Shankland's fall-off is one for the ages. What could have been.

Dillon: I think we played well, we just didn’t take our chances. On another day I feel we would beat them. Bang average in my opinion.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Craig Gordon rued an "opportunity missed" for Hearts on his 300th appearance for the club as they were kept waiting to ensure Conference League progress.

Hearts were on top against Bundesliga outfit Heidenheim in the first half at Tynecastle but could not convert their chances, and were punished after the break with goals from Sirlord Conteh and Jan Schoppner.

The 2-0 defeat ended Hearts' 100% start but they remain well placed in the top half of the Conference League table at the halfway stage.

Goalkeeper Gordon said: "We matched them for large periods of the game. We had chances first half and I think if we get our noses in front we give ourselves a great chance to win the game.

“There is definitely disappointment in the changing room as we had that chance but just didn't take it.

“There were a few tweaks (to the team set-up) and I thought it worked well. Especially in the first half with the chances we created. We moved the ball well and restricted them to very few attempts on our goal.

"It would have been nice to get to nine points on Thursday night. If we had managed to do that it would have guaranteed us at least the play-off round.

"That's an opportunity missed. But we still have three games to try and get the points necessary and finish as high as we can up this table."

Gordon turns 42 on 31 December but has reclaimed the number one spot at Hearts this season from Zander Clark and also started Scotland's last two games in the injury absence of Angus Gunn.

"There has been many injuries, plenty of times I have been written off and people saying that will be the end of my career, but I have managed to come back," he added.

"It will be my own decision one day when I hang up my gloves. I'm still trying to give everything I possibly can to be successful."

Bundesliga side Heidenheim edged out Hearts at a raucous Tynecastle to maintain their 100% record in the Conference League and end that of their hosts.

The Edinburgh side sit second bottom of the Scottish Premiership, but dictated play against their German visitors in the first half without finding the way to goal.

After suffering nearly an hour of pressure, Heidenheim found the goal that overcame Neil Critchley's side when Sirlord Conteh cushioned a header beyond Craig Gordon after a blistering attack.

The hunt for the equaliser was timid, and in a rinse and repeat move for the visitors, Jan Schoppner glanced in to silence the home fans.

Give us your say on the performance and the match here., external

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Hearts head coach Neil Critchley tells BBC Scotland: "I really appreciated the supporters cheering us off the pitch because it means a lot and showed they appreciated our performance.

"I don't think they're happy, we're not happy, we can never be happy when we lose but I think we played with real aggression, real purpose.

"It was arguably as good as the Omonoia game, we just didn't take our chances tonight when we were on top and when that happens, you always run the risk of being punished and we were by two minutes of real quality.

"Physically they are very good, landing on second balls, they've got pace and power on the break which they showed and you know you're not going to dominate a team like that for 90 minutes, you're going to have to defend well in moments of the game.

"When you're on top you have to make sure you take those chances and be clinical and unfortunately we've not done that tonight.

"The game is not always going to follow the same pattern for 90 minutes when you're playing against good teams.

"It would be foolish and naive of us to think at half-time we would just come out and the same things were going to happen.

"I wasn't disappointed with how we played tonight at all, I'm just disappointed with the result."

On Lawrence Shankland: "It's not falling for him. I thought he was excellent tonight, his all round performance, the way he held the ball up, he led the line, he brought others into the game... we were all desperate for him to score.

"We'll keep believing in him. I saw Steve Clarke say they're going to give him a bit of love and that will be a big boost for him.

"He will score goals, he will."

On where Hearts are in this Conference League: "I think we're in a good position. If you said before the competition we'd be six from nine, I think you'd have gone we might settle for that.

"Not before tonight of course, though.

"If we keep producing that level of performance with that mentality then I think we will win games of football."