4/10
LEAGUE: 12th, 23pts (2012-13 - 10th, 44pts)
SCOTTISH CUP: Fourth round
LEAGUE CUP: Semi finals
MOST USED FIRST XI: Jamie MacDonald, Dylan McGowan, Brad McKay, Danny Wilson, Kevin McHattie, Jamie Walker, Jamie Hamill, Scott Robinson, Ryan Stevenson, David Smith, Callum Paterson
OVERVIEW: It's strange; Hearts have been relegated, as was inevitable following their 15 point deduction, yet hope and optimism haven't been this high down Gorgie way for a long time. Off the pitch, the debris left by the Romanov regime has finally been cleaned up, while there was enough spirit and vim on the field to keep the supporters onside. Fears that this season would destroy some of their talented youngsters were unfounded - most of them have come on leaps and bounds with the experience they've obtained. With everyone pulling in the same direction, the future of the club looks bright.
HIGH POINTS: Beating Hibernian four times out of five will have felt pretty sweet, especially given the travails of their local rivals. The Ryan Stevenson goal which won the League Cup tie between the two Edinburgh sides was special indeed.
LOW POINTS: Being denied a League Cup final appearance by 9 man ICT will have stuck in the craw. The 7-0 home loss to Celtic in the Scottish Cup was unquestionably the worst point of the campaign though.
STAR MAN: Jamie MacDonald's exploits in goal bordered on heroic at times. Given the lack of experience and quality in his backline, he saw plenty of action, and made the most of the chance to impress. I'm surprised he hasn't received a Scotland call yet. Which makes the decision to let him go (and, going by rumour, replace him with Marian Kello) a bit bizarre...
ONE FOR THE FUTURE: Callum Paterson was decent on the wing, decent up front and then absolutely superb in his preferred right-back position in the final few games. Just 19, he seems the most likely of this cohort of young players to go on to big things.
WASTE OF SPACE: Hearts got to make one signing in January - and they wasted it on big lummox Paul McCallum, whose main contribution up front was persistently fouling defenders. Thankfully, it wasn't long until Locke came to his senses and brought Dale Carrick back into the team.
THE BOSS: The departure of Locke, despite a strong finish to the campaign, surprised me. He made plenty of mistakes - for example, the failure to break down Caley Thistle's 9 men was primarily down to his tactical inflexibility - but he seemed to learn from these and was certainly able to keep his charges motivated. The new head coach, Robbie Neilson, is a rookie. But appointing Craig Levein (whose record domestically is superb, however traumatized we are by his period in charge of Scotland) as Director of Football appears astute and the decisions on players and coaches have been made by him. Fans will trust that he and new majority shareholder Ann Budge know what they are doing.
PROSPECTS FOR NEXT SEASON: In any other season, you'd bet your mortgage on Hearts winning the Championship, but of course they'll be up against Rangers. This will be a much tighter battle than most folk at Ibrox would like to believe, though. Given that most of the squad will be retained, a top two finish and a playoff spot is the minimum expectation.
FIRST TEAMERS DEFINITELY LEAVING: Jamie Hamill, Jamie MacDonald, Dylan McGowan, Mark Ridgers, Paul McCallum (end of loan), Ryan Stevenson, Callum Tapping
L.
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