In that season we had Rudi Skacel or whoever it's spelled, scoring goals for fun and he seems to be doing the same this season now that he is back at Tynecastle.
If this performance continues and the Old Firm continue to drop points we could close the gap even further. Rangers drew with Inverness this morning when Kenny Miller failed to convert a penalty so you never know.
If that happens, however, the Scottish press and radio pundits will start to discuss when "the bubble will burst" for Hearts. We have a well known habit of bottling it towards the end of the season. We did this in the 60's when we were beaten to the league by, I think, Kilmarnock on goal difference and once again in 1986 when all we had to do was draw with Dundee and lift the title for the first time in lots of years. In fact, even if we lost by a single goal, Celtic would have had to have won at Love Street by 4 goals for them to lift the league trophy. Guess what happened.
I missed that game having been to most of the others that season with my first and, I think, only season ticket. My friends and I (including Don) travelled to many away games that season including one towards the end of the season at Tannadice to see Hearts beat Dundee United 3-0 (or was it 2-0?). The Hearts end was packed that day and we stood at the top of the shed part of the terracing. I remember the steps were incredibly steep so we diced with death every time Hearts scored that afternoon. The crowd would erupt and sway straight down and you had no choice but to be carried down with it.
The journey back on the bus was great as the a huge convoy of hearts buses snaked it's way up to the Kingsway and back home. There were probably more Hearts fans there that day that the arabs but that wasn't unusual in those days. Hearts would take thousands of fans away from home and fill the away end, usually making far more noise that the "shitey home support".
Not any more. Stadiums are all seater, family orientated and with less atmosphere. Having said all that, there is far less sectarian abuse at Tynecastle and the songs are more in support of Hearts than deeply against catholics as they used to be. I'm not sure the same can be said for the team from Govan.
So Jim Jefferies can become a real hero at Tynecastle again, especially if he brings silverware in. With our history over the last 20 years the most likely candidate for silverware will be the Scottish Cup but just imagine what would happen if we won the league.......