Hearts points target blown out the water as remarkable turnaround could turn epic a year on from Fir Park woe
Hearts title glory would be the pinnacle of what would be an epic turnaround in Gorgie.
They’re already 10 points clear of their initial points tally - and Hearts are now eyeing an exclamation mark on their remarkable turn of fortunes.
On April 12th last year, the club drew at Motherwell on matchday 33, consigning them to the Premiership’s bottom six. A year on under head coach Derek McInnes, after defeating the same opponent in their 33rd game of the season, they are top of the league by a point and have accumulated 70 since August. Next up is Hibs at Easter Road in the first of five critical matches in the post-split fixtures against top-six opponents, where winning the title for the first time since 1960 is the aim.
McInnes might have been Kilmarnock manager at the time but watched the dire stalemate in Lanarkshire during 2025. He’s revealed the initial points tally he set upon picking the club up from that disappointing campaign has been bettered by 10, and how it sets the scene for possible greatness, come the end of this term.
What was Hearts initial points tally target?
”A lot of people deserve a lot of credit,” McInnes told the Evening News. “But the biggest factor in all this is the players and that can't be forgotten. To get to 70 points at this stage is a huge achievement and the stats will tell you that. 70 points is way beyond what we maybe thought at the start. We set out to get 18 wins as quickly as possible, because we thought 18 wins, and a few draws, 60 points. That will get us European football. So to get to 70 points with five games to go is a huge testament to the players' efforts.”
Devlin was in the changing room at Fir Park last April, and for those who remain from that clash, it’s something that still sticks in the throat. That’s why the pressure they face amid a title battle is much preferred to the one that came on them when battling in the bottom half.
“I think for us boys that were here last year, that day at Motherwell really stuck with us,” said Devlin in a chat with the Evening News. “I know I can say that for myself. I remember just feeling so gutted and walking in the changing room after the game knowing, you know, we'd let down so many people, let down ourselves, let down the people that spend so much money and time to support their club, to not make the top six.
What result impacted the Hearts dressing room?
“So to be about a year later against the same team and in the position we're in is so special. Like I said, a lot of the boys that were here really just wanted to change the way everything was. Obviously had a new coaching staff and a lot of new boys that have brought a new energy and really bought into what this club's all about.
“You need to coming over here. Being in Scotland, it's really tough. Playing for Hearts is really hard, but you get the rewards when you put on performances and work hard. I prefer this pressure to than what we felt this time last year.
“I think when you're growing up, you want to be a professional footballer. Then when you get there, all you want to do is be in these, I guess you could call pressure games, big games. But that's what we still watch on the telly, the Champions League games, and stuff like that. Now to be a part of them in our own league is something that you just got to relish.”
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