Why Hearts' title tilt is unlikely to be a one-off
Aberdeen went from fifth place and the Scottish Cup last season to the bottom half this year, the same drop Hearts themselves suffered the year before. Former Hearts head coach Robbie Neilson dealt with the extra load on his squad when he managed in the Conference League in the 2022-23 campaign. He says the dilemma is whether to run with a larger squad to cope with the extra load, or focus on quality and hope injuries do not set in, like it did for Neilson's Hearts when they took on Fiorentina, Istanbul Basaksehir and RFS of Latvia.
"It takes three or four campaigns in Europe to get you used to playing Thursday and Sunday," Neilson said. "I think you need that experience. "You see that with all the good European teams, initially it's difficult the first two or three campaigns.
But once you get into the rhythm of it and understand it, it becomes easier. "The squad will have to have 22 to 24 top players, all good enough to play. It will be about recruitment over the summer.
"That's the next step for Hearts. Can they now do it in Europe and the league? There are a number of players who have not played on a Thursday and have to win on the Sunday to stay at the top end of the league.
" Hearts will need to find a solution to competing on multiple fronts, because they will want to go deeper in both domestic cup competitions as well. Hearts played 44 games this season compared to Celtic's 59 and Rangers' 58. The challenge is nothing Hearts and Bloom will not be aware of.