Hearts’ players were on the brink of history and immortality. It was nine minutes away.
Four decades of Old Firm dominance was that close to toppling. The season-long league leaders were drawing with holders Celtic in Glasgow as the game crept into the 87th minute.
It looked like they were just about to hold until Daizen Maeda struck to trigger bedlam in Paradise.
Ugly scenes followed Celtic’s third deep into injury time as Hearts headed straight for the team bus, eventually reemerging outside Tynecastle with tears spilling from their faces.
Since then, the backbone of that team has been deconstructed. Boss Derek McInnes has departed for Tynecastle, taking with him captain and talisman Lawrence Shankland, as well as midfield controller Cammy Devlin.
Wouter Vrancken has arrived from Sint-Truiden and the Belgian has suffered a tumultuous start.
A 6-0 hiding from Sturm Graz sent Hearts tumbling out of Champions League qualifying, with the Tynecastle support looking at the club’s analytical approach to signings to somehow hoist them back to the lofty heights they hit last term.
“Hearts just look as if it’s just a new squad flung in together, with the manager too, trying to find their way,” said former striker Ryan Stevenson.
“You don’t get time in football, it’s game after game after game.
“If you don’t get results, we all know what Tynecastle is like. It can be electric, but can they deal with the stadium turning? Are they big enough characters to deal with that?
“If they don’t play well, I would give it to mid-September, and it would not be nice.”
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