Hearts: Guide to 2015-16 season

By Adam Higgins
Jul 22, 2015
5 min read

A profile of Heart of Midlothian as part of a comprehensive guide to the 12 top-flight teams ahead of the 2015-16 Scottish Premiership season.

The predicted three-way battle for the one automatic promotion spot at the top of the Scottish Championship was always going to be exciting and dramatic.

One thing we didn't expect it to be was convincing but, with Rangers and Hibernian the favourites in many people's eyes to seal a Scottish Premiership return, Hearts provided an emphatic response to run away with the title in their first season in the second tier since 1983.

Beating Rangers and Edinburgh rivals Hibs in the first two games, the Jambos begun as they meant to go on by finding a high level of consistency, racking up impressive goal tallies - including a club-record 10-0 win over Cowdenbeath - and losing only three times in the league on their way to securing a 21-point advantage at the top.

Although their interest in both cup competitions was categorically ended by Celtic, Robbie Neilson's first campaign as head coach at Tynecastle could not have gone much better.

And, after a year outside the top-flight having received a points deduction for entering administration, the only new addition to this year's Premiership line-up will be looking to do more than just avoid another relegation scrap, despite captain Danny Wilson remaining in the Championship after re-joining the Gers.

LADBROKES SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP TEAMS FOR THIS SEASON:

Aberdeen

Celtic

Dundee

Dundee United

Hamilton Academical

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Kilmarnock

Motherwell

Partick Thistle

Ross County

St Johnstone

HEART OF MIDLOTHIAN:

Season to remember: The former Hearts defender, 35, won 31 of his 41 games in charge and was manager of the month four times during his first full campaign as a manager (Picture from Sky Sports)

Head coach: Robbie Neilson Assistant Head Coach: Stevie Crawford Captain: Alim Ozturk (Defender) Executive chairwoman: Ann Budge Star Player: Sam Nicholson (Midfielder) 2014-15 player of the season: Jamie Walker (Midfielder)

Stadium: Tynecastle Capacity: 17,420 2014-15 Average Attendance: 15,985 This is the fourth largest stadium currently in the Scottish Premiership

Celebrations: Hearts romped to the Scottish Championship title last season and collected the trophy on the final day against Rangers (Picture from Sky Sports)

Last season's league finish: 1st in Championship (Won 29, Drawn 4, Lost 3 - 91 points) Last season's goals for/against: 96/26

Discipline record in league (2014-15): 60 yellow cards, 4 red cards Last season's disciplinarian (2014-15): Morgaro Gomis (11 yellows, 0 reds)

First three fixtures (2015-16): Sunday 2 August v St Johnstone (H), Saturday 8 August v Dundee (A), Wednesday 12 August v Motherwell (H)

Flag day: Hearts will unveil the Championship flag before their Premiership opener against St Johnstone at Tynecastle (Picture from BT Sport)

Other key fixtures (2015-16): 22 August v Partick Thistle (H), 26 September v Celtic (A), 18 October v Dundee Utd (A), 7 November v Hamilton (H), 26 December v Celtic (H), 30 December v Dundee Utd (H), 2 January v Kilmarnock (A), 13 February v Partick Thistle (H), 19 March v St Johnstone (H), 2 April v Celtic (A), 9 April v Aberdeen (H)

Live TV games (confirmed): 2 August v St Johnstone (H), 12:30pm, BT Sport 2, 11 September v Inverness CT (A), 7:45pm, BT Sport 1, 20 September v Aberdeen (H), KO 12:45pm, Sky Sports 3, 18 October v Dundee United (A), 12:30pm, Sky Sports 3

Midfield pair: 20-year-old Nicholson and 27-year-old Buaben could have more influential roles to play next season for the newly-promoted Jambos

Biggest league win of last season: 28 February 2015 - 10-0 win v Cowdenbeath (H) Biggest league defeat of last season: 12 April 2015 - 2-0 defeat v Hibernian (A)

Best moment (2014-15): Nine-game winning run in the league between February and March Worst moment (2014-15): First home defeat to Falkirk in January/losing to Hibernian & Rangers in April

Reap what you sow: The Swedish striker, 25, netted 11 league goals in 22 apps last term and was sent off against Hibs in August (Picture from Sky Sports)

Top league goalscorer (2014-15): Genero Zeefuik - 12 goals Top overall goalscorer (2014-15): Osman Sow/Genero Zeefuik - 12 goals each

Most league assists (2014-15): Billy King - 9 assists Most league appearances last season: Morgaro Gomis (33 starts, 1 sub app)

Buoyant: Hearts supporters will hope their side can make an impact on their return to the Scottish top-flight (Picture from Sky Sports)

Best signing (summer 2015): Blazej Augustyn (from Gornik Zabrze, free transfer) Key player for 2015-16: Morgaro Gomis Record signing: Mirsad Beslija (£850,000 buy from Racing Genk in August 2006)

Last season's Scottish Communities League Cup finish: Third Round (lost 3-0 to Celtic at Parkhead) Last season's William Hill Scottish Cup finish: Fourth round (lost 4-0 to Celtic at Tynecastle)

Early bath: The Senegalese midfielder was sent off in the opening exchanges as the Jambos crashed out of the Scottish Cup to Premiership champions Celtic in November (Picture from Sky Sports)

Squad list: 1 Neil Alexander (GK), 2 Callum Paterson (RB/RM), 3 Kevin McHattie (LB), 4 Blazej Augustyn (CB), 5 Alim Ozturk (CB), 6 Morgaro Gomis (CM), 7 Jamie Walker (CM/LM), 8 Prince Buaben (CM), 9 Soufian El Hassnaoui (ST), 10 Osman Sow (ST), 11 Sam Nicholson (CAM), 12 Billy King (RW/LW), 13 Jack Hamilton (GK), 14 Miguel Pallardo (CM), 15 Scott Gallacher (GK), 16 Gary Oliver (ST), 19 Juanma Delgado (ST), 20 Gavin Reilly (ST), 21 Kenny Anderson (RM/LM), 22 Jordan McGhee (CB), 28 Robbie Buchanan (CF), 32 Alistair Roy (FW).

Strongest line-up:

Players out:

James Keatings (to Hibernian, free transfer) Danny Wilson (to Rangers, free transfer) Brad McKay (to St Johnstone, free transfer) Scott Robinson (to Kilmarnock, free transfer) Dale Carrick (to Kilmarnock, free transfer) Liam Gordon (to St Johnstone, free transfer) Adam Eckersley (released) Jason Holt (released) Jake Hutchings (released)

Staying put: Ex-Hamilton striker Keatings and former Liverpool centre-back Wilson, both 23, decided to stay in the Scottish Championship with promotion favourites Hibs and Rangers

Transfers in:

Juanma Delgado (from Kalloni, free transfer) Blazej Augustyn (from Gornick Zabrze, free transfer) Gavin Reilly (from Queen of the South, undisclosed fee) Russell McLean (from Alloa Athletic, free transfer) Jahmal Howlett-Mundle (from Crystal Palace, free transfer) Igor Rossi Branco (from Maritimo, free transfer)