Pride & joy outweigh title disappointment

As Colin Chisholm has belted out more than once this season, "there's nae other team to compare with the Hearts" and that just about sums up how I feel after the past 12 months.

What a journey it has been, both on and off the pitch. More than anything, the overwhelming feeling among Jambos now is pride; pride in the team, pride in the club and pride in the direction Hearts are heading.

Yes, there is still a tinge of disappointment we did not win the title for the first time in more than six decades. But that sits alongside genuine joy at what has been achieved since Derek McInnes arrived as head coach and Tony Bloom came in as a shareholder.

Bloom said he expected Hearts to win the title within 10 years. Even the most optimistic supporter would not have imagined that dream could feel so close within 10 months.

There has been plenty of debate about what happened at Celtic Park, and some of the refereeing decisions that led into that game. I could write a dissertation on all of that, but the bigger point is Hearts supporters should also take a step back and recognise the scale of what this team has achieved this campaign.

Hearts have split the Old Firm for the first time in 20 years, earned the right to compete in the Champions League qualifiers and finished with a record 80 points. That is not a near miss to be dismissed - it is a season of real substance.

Hearts have not just been the talk of the Toon. Their rise has drawn attention far beyond Edinburgh, with interest in the club and in the wider Scottish game growing globally because of what this side has managed domestically.

In McInnes, Hearts have a leader supporters fully trust and believe in - probably more than at any time since Jim Jefferies' first spell in the late 1990s.

There were doubts in some quarters about whether McInnes would fit the Jamestown Analytics model, but this season he has clearly outperformed expectations, which at the outset were simply to get us back into third place.

I did worry McInnes might be tempted by the Scotland job this summer, but I still believe he will remain in charge until he brings silverware back to Gorgie.

If you put aside record signing Eduardo Ageu - who has spent much of the season cheering on from the sidelines like a Gorgie Ultra - Hearts' spending has been broadly in line with Aberdeen and Hibs.

That should give Jambos enormous encouragement for what comes next. If the recruitment continues to improve, as clubs such as Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise have shown is possible with the right model, this season may yet prove to be only the beginning.