July 1999

July 30th 1999

Well, after the shortest close season ever - the league starts tomorrow. Normality is resumed.

My hopes for this season are to get our credibility back as a challenging team and hopefully give the old firm a run for their money, to finish third and qualify for Europe but ultimately to win one or both of the cups. I still think the league cup is pretty Mickey Mouse and wouldn't get too excited about winning it but I would take it as a start. The Scottish Cup is still our best bet. I would like to see large numbers turning out for Hearts games and for the fans to get behind the team and not get on their backs too quickly and pick on individual players. I hope that Paul Ritchie is sold to an English or Foreign team if he isn't going to stay at Hearts. I hope hibs go into the play offs, sent there by a Darren Jackson hat-trick. I hope Jackson kisses his badge when he scores against them and takes off his top to reveal a Wayne Foster tattoo or something like that.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to tomorrow, to getting the scores from around the grounds and working out how it affects us and all that. My predictions for this weekend are:

St Johnstone - 1,  Hearts - 3

Hibs - 1, Motherwell - 2 (I will never predict hibs to win)

Rangers - 3, Killie - 0

Aberdeen - 0, Celtic - 2

Dundee United - 0, Dundee - 0

Finally, for this season I am taking over the No Idle Talk Man of the Match section so if you wish to join in the voting, email me at jamtart18@hotmail.com with the title 'MoM subscribe'. On a Monday after a competitive game I will ask for MoM for that weekends game - the day after a mid-week game. You can vote for your MoM by what you have seen at the match, on TV or read in a newspaper or on-line. The results will be displayed in NIT on line each week.

July 26th 1999

Hearts- 2 (Makel, Cameron), Spurs - 2

I enjoyed being at the game, just being back and seeing Hearts but it didn't get interesting until Makel equalised for Hearts. I must admit I was quite surprised when I saw the initial team line-up on Saturday - Quitongo and Jenkinson up front ...... but I thought that they played well after the first goal and their fighting spirit was good. I was impressed with Cameron, Makel and I also thought the new signing Gary Wales looked as though he will be a great player. I had a wee laugh to myself when I saw Gary Locke chasing David Ginola down the wing, talk about things you never thought you would see (although to be fair he did OK against him a couple of times). There were a lot of season ticket holders missing on Saturday - just shows that they are not willing to pay extra for a friendly game. Quite right it should have been included in the season ticket. It's only mugs like me who are willing to pay up ....

Now bring on the new season. I heard from someone who was at the hibs game that without Sauze or Lapaty they will be nothing and that they gave away all their set pieces and everything so I hope Hearts had someone watching them.

There were a lot of Spurs fans up on Saturday(more than teams like Dundee, Dunfermline etc bring through). I consumed a lot of beer on saturday, aye, it's great to be back !

I quite fancy having a bet on Hearts winning the Scottish Cup and Cameron being player of the season!

July 19th 1999

Hearts-Fulham tonight ... and I'll miss it. I can't believe that a London team are playing here and I am flying down to London, great timing. I hear that Stan Collymore will have bodyguards with him. I suppose he will get a lot of abuse as it was Scottish fans that were in the pub the night he hit Ulrika-ka-ka. I'll miss it all.  Oh well, Spurs on Saturday.

A guy at work was telling me about a story in the Daily Rangers - apparently Paul Ritchie was listed as a sub in the Huns tour of Sweden !! How's that for cheek.

So, all the best to the Jambos tonight, hopefully a good display by the boys and a good result with no injuries. I'm off to catch my flight now.

July 19th 1999

We won 3-0 on Saturday - Adam, McSwegan and Makel were the scorers and by all accounts Hearts were very impressive. I'm afraid I didn't make it through.... The Evening News had Darren Jackson as the man of the match.  My first game will be the Spurs game on Saturday, I got my ticket for it so I am all sorted and ready for the season to begin. I have scanned in a photo of the new strip here. I will try and get round to doing a photo and player profile page (but knowing me it won't be serious, I'll be concentrating on the less serious aspects of a player).

I was at my friend's graduation party on Friday night - at EASTER ROAD !!! It was on OK function room, quite nicely decorated etc, not too many 'hibs' things.  All the way through it I was preparing myself for the hibs song to be played but the DJ didn't have it - he didn't like football (strange but never mind ....) But at the end of the night when the disco had finished the inevitable drunk people singing started and all the hibbies there just proved to me what sad, bitter and twisted, humourless people they are. All they sing is songs of hatred for Hearts, nothing about their own team, they don't even have any funny songs. Murray tried to get into a conversation with one of them about football, asking how he thought hibs would do this season and the guy started on a tirade of rambling nonsense, muttering things about Albert Kidd. That old chestnut. So he couldn't focus on hibs prospects this season, all he could see was a Jambo in front of him. Sad losers, that's all they are. Murray and I watched them for a bit then left in disgust as the bar stewards started getting humpty with them and they were all arguing with each other. Never mind, I am looking forward to my next visit to Easter Road when I am fully confident we shall be leaving with 3 points.

July 15th 1999

Can you believe it, the only friendly game that is included on the season ticket (Fulham) and I am going to miss it as I in London (how ironic) on business. What a nightmare.

Already the mad rush is on to get all the tickets for all the all-ticket matches that are coming up, madness. No, I don't mean that, I am looking forward to the season very much, Saturday's are terrible now.

So, Hampden on Saturday (2pm KO), I just hope that it's not my only trip to Hampden this season. Still trying to get the new strip on the site - scanner is temporarily broken.

We are going to go ahead and have 'Our Motherwell Trip' at Tynecastle this year (does that make sense). So, hopefully it will be a good day, you'll not see any fighting in the Gorgie Stand that day, just us lot jumping for joy when we win our usual £5 a goal bets with the Motherwell boys. Here's hoping anyway ...........

 

July 9th 1999

Not long to go now ......... this is the last non-football weekend left before the season starts, thank goodness.

I don't really have much to say on the alleged take-over bid at Hearts, until someone comes along with money to invest in the club then there is no point in it changing hands and going through another disruption.

I have included a story I was sent by Kenichi "Kenny" Yajima, a Japanese Jambo, please have read. We are considering going for the corporate day at Tynecastle this season seeing as we are not going to get our trip to Fir Park. I am sure if it wasn't so expensive we would do it more often. Season ticket holders get £50 discount this year so they are addressing the expensive prices a little bit. I must find out if I can use 500 Club vouchers ......... I will attempt to get a photo of the new strip on here by Monday.

July 5th 1999

Jim Jeffries has made Colin Cameron the captain for next season. He felt that he would an inspiration to his team mates. He has told him it is likely he will be captain for the next two seasons ... does that mean we will keep him ? I think it is a good move, takes the pressure of Locke a bit and lets him concentrate on trying to play.

Tickets for the Spurs game go on public sale on 7th July, tickets priced £14 for Adults, £7 for concessions. Season ticket holders have until 17th July to get tickets for their own seats priced £10/£5. So, not too bad I suppose at least we are getting a discount.

Not long to go now, I can't wait - Saturdays are getting boring. I was speaking to the boys on Saturday and a few of them are getting nervous for the first Hearts-Hibs game - I can't wait. even although there is no relegation this season (I think it may change yet) we will still sing it to them, just think, all that fun starts over again. Yeehaa.

July 2nd 1999

Hearts have signed Stephane Adam's brother-in-law Fabien Leclerq on a 2 year deal (subject to a medical when they return from Italy). He is a full back and Hearts were 'impressed' with him the couple of times they watched him.  He was impressed by Edinburgh and obviously the pull of Stephane being here would have been a major factor, so it's just as well Hearts managed to keep Adam.

Hearts have turned down the Cream Buns' latest offer for Ritchie - they SAY they are not going to make another offer and will wait until he is free and get him for nothing .... so I hope that a good enough offer comes in from a team down south that Ritchie will be glad to play for. I'd hate to see Hearts lose him at the end of the season to the Huns for nothing, arghh, that would be the limit.

I am not panicking yet but I haven't got my season ticket, lots of people have but there are still a few more weeks until the first game so I'll be fine. Sky have moved the Motherwell-Hearts game to a Monday night in September and we are not sure if everyone will be around for the December game so I might miss my corporate trip to Fir Park this season, pity, it is always a brilliant day out. We might try and do the same at Tynecastle but it is so expensive. I suppose they don't want 30-40 louts like us drinking as much as we can to get our money's worth.

Can't believe that Sky aren't putting any of the Hearts-Hibs games on live, I am glad that they won't be a Sunday evening KO but annoyed that they don't deem them attractive enough fixtures. Oh well, must start winding up the hibbies soon in the build up to the first derby. Can't wait.