2008–09 Heart of Midlothian F.C. season

The 2008–09 season was the 128th season of competitive football by Heart of Midlothian, and their 26th consecutive season in the top level of Scottish football, competing in the Scottish Premier League. Hearts also competed in the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.

Heart of Midlothian

2008–09 season
Chairman	Roman Romanov
Manager	Csaba László
Stadium	Tynecastle Park
Scottish Premier League	3rd
Scottish Cup	Fifth round
League Cup	Second round
Top goalscorer	League: Bruno Aguiar (7) All: Bruno Aguiar (7)
Highest home attendance	17,244 vs. Hibernian, SPL, 3 January 2009
Lowest home attendance	6,844 vs. Airdrieonians, League Cup, 27 August 2008
← 2007–08 2009–10 →

Season Overview

Hearts began the campaign with a new manager, Csaba László, at the helm.^[1] The club began the season with a home win against Motherwell and had a good run in the early stages of the campaign, climbing as high as second in the table in late September.^[2] The good start looked under threat when it was revealed that players wages had not been paid, although the problem was blamed on a "technical hitch" with wages to be paid on Friday 26 September.^[3] However, in April 2009 the club was able to announce a £6 million reduction in their debt level.^[4]

Hearts entered the Scottish League Cup at the second round and were given a tough game by First Division side Airdrie United, being defeated on penalties after a 0–0 draw.

After a run of poor results in October, the club set off on a run of five league wins in a row starting with a 1–0 away win over St Mirren and culminating in a 2–1 home win over Rangers that left them third in the table.^[5] However Hearts' strike force had only managed to score 2 goals in 19 games and was looking ineffective. After a 1–1 draw at Celtic Park, there followed a draw at home against Dundee United, a defeat at Pittodrie and a goalless draw against Hibernian.

The club entered the Scottish Cup in the Fourth Round where they faced Edinburgh derby rivals Hibernian at Easter Road. Hearts won the game 2–0 with goals from Christian Nadé and Gary Glen to set up a Fifth Round tie with Falkirk. They were then eliminated by Falkirk following a 1–0 home defeat.

Hearts boosted their chances of a third-place finish and qualification for the Europa League with a 2–1 win over 5th-placed Aberdeen, Christian Nade cancelled out Darren Mackie's opener on the stroke of half time before Andy Driver scored the winner in the second half.

On 28 February Hearts beat fellow 3rd place hopefuls, Dundee Utd 1–0 at Tannadice with Michael Stewart's second half strike. This moved them 5 points clear in 3rd place, following which Hearts then defeated Motherwell 2–1 at Tynecastle with a last minute goal from Ruben Palazuelos.

Hearts visited Easter Road on 14 March and lost 1–0 through Steven Fletcher's goal. Hearts then took themselves to Ibrox where they found themselves 2–0 down at half time but a spirited second half changed the course of the match with Christos Karipidis and Ruben Palazuelos both netting to make it 2–2.

Hearts then followed their success with a terrific 3–1 over Kilmarnock at Tynecastle. Hearts lost an early goal from Danny Invincible but a Calum Elliot brace and a Bruno Aguiar strike made Hearts comfortable winners, securing a top six finish, which they failed to achieve the previous season, the only time in the club's history.

After success against Kilmarnock, Hearts faced Celtic in the second last game before the split. Hearts lost a goal inside the 1st minute from Venegoor of Hessilink but equalised before half time from an outstanding freekick from Bruno Aguiar, gaining Hearts another point from the Old Firm. This left only an away game at Falkirk before the league table split. Despite a 2–0 loss to Rangers and a 1–0 loss to Hibs, Hearts beat Dundee United 3–0 to finish in third place in Csaba Lazlo's debut season. Their final game, a 0–0 draw with Celtic, ensured that the Glasgow club missed out on the title.^[6]

Results and fixtures

Pre-season / Friendlies

In Laszlo's first game in charge Hearts drew 1–1 with Northern Irish side Glentoran (losing 6–5 on penalties.) Two days later Hearts travelled to Dunfermline Athletic where they lost 1–0. On the same day Hearts set out on their 10-day pre-season tour of Germany.

Glentoran v Heart of Midlothian

12 July 2008 Umbro Trophy	Glentoran	1–1 (5–4 p)	Heart of Midlothian	The Oval
	Berry 71'	Report	Mikoliūnas 5'	Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Hugh Carville

Dunfermline Athletic v Heart of Midlothian

16 July 2008 Friendly	Dunfermline Athletic	1–0	Heart of Midlothian	East End Park
	Harper 23'	DAFC report		Attendance: 1,859 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Rheingau-Auswahl v Heart of Midlothian

23 July 2008 Friendly	Rheingau-Auswahl	0–6	Heart of Midlothian	Rheingau Stadion
		Report	Kšanavičius Berra Žaliūkas Kingston Stewart Mäkelä

Kaiserslautern v Heart of Midlothian

23 July 2008 Friendly	Kaiserslautern	1–0	Heart of Midlothian	Fritz-Walter-Stadion
		Report

SV Wehen Wiesbaden v Heart of Midlothian

25 July 2008 Friendly	SV Wehen Wiesbaden	2–1	Heart of Midlothian	Brita-Arena
		Report	Ivaškevičius 78'	Attendance: 700

Heart of Midlothian v Hull City

3 August 2008 Friendly	Heart of Midlothian	1–0	Hull City	Tynecastle Park
	Kšanavičius 32'	Report

Scottish Premier League

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish Premier League

Heart of Midlothian v Motherwell

9 August 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	3–2	Motherwell	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Stewart 24' Kšanavičius 40' Mikoliūnas 82'	Report	Clarkson 32', 81'	Attendance: 14,219 Referee: Iain Brines

Rangers v Heart of Midlothian

16 August 2008 SPL	Rangers	2–0	Heart of Midlothian	Ibrox Stadium
15:00	Lafferty 37' Boyd 90 pen.'	Report	Mikoliūnas  74'	Attendance: 48,191 Referee: Stuart Dougal

Heart of Midlothian v St Mirren

23 August 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	2–1	St Mirren	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Mole 45' Stewart 75 pen.'	Report	Guerao  26' Mehmet 70'	Attendance: 13,357 Referee: Calum Murray

Hamilton Academical v Heart of Midlothian

30 August 2008 SPL	Hamilton Academical	1–2	Heart of Midlothian	New Douglas Park
15:00	Lyle 80'	Report	Žaliūkas 18' Driver 59'	Attendance: 4,210 Referee: Craig Thomson

Falkirk v Heart of Midlothian

13 September 2008 SPL	Falkirk	2–1	Heart of Midlothian	Falkirk Stadium
15:00	McCann 3' Arfield 90'	Report	Stewart 71'	Attendance: 5,960 Referee: Steven Conroy

Heart of Midlothian v Inverness CT

20 September 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	1–0	Inverness CT	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Mikoliūnas 8'	Report		Attendance: 12,890 Referee: Willie Collum

Dundee United v Heart of Midlothian

27 September 2008 SPL	Dundee United	3–0	Heart of Midlothian	Tannadice Park
15:00	Conway 39' Daly 50' Robertson 61'	Report	Jónsson  74'	Attendance: 8,004 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Heart of Midlothian v Kilmarnock

4 October 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	1–2	Kilmarnock	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Kingston 34'	Report	Taouil 19' Bryson 82'	Attendance: 13,189 Referee: Craig Thomson

Hibernian v Heart of Midlothian

19 October 2008 SPL	Hibernian	1–1	Heart of Midlothian	Easter Road
15:00	Fletcher 2'	Report	Aguiar 42'	Attendance: 17,223 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Heart of Midlothian v Aberdeen

25 October 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	1–1	Aberdeen	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Wallace 21'	Report	Mackie 13'	Attendance: 14,265 Referee: Steven Conroy

Heart of Midlothian v Celtic

2 November 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	0–2	Celtic	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Žaliūkas  51'	Report	Maloney 7' Caldwell 20'	Attendance: 15,460 Referee: Craig Thomson

St Mirren v Heart of Midlothian

8 November 2008 SPL	St Mirren	0–1	Heart of Midlothian	Love Street
15:00		Report	Stewart  42' Jónsson 79'	Attendance: 4,192 Referee: Michael McCurry

Heart of Midlothian v Hamilton Academical

12 November 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	1–0	Hamilton Academical	Tynecastle Park
19:45	Nadé 22'	Report		Attendance: 12,030 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Inverness CT v Heart of Midlothian

15 November 2008 SPL	Inverness CT	0–1	Heart of Midlothian	Caledonian Stadium
15:00		Report	Aguiar 22'	Attendance: 4,011 Referee: Mike Tumility

Heart of Midlothian v Falkirk

22 November 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	2–1	Falkirk	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Aguiar 18' Driver 59'	Report	Lovell 16'	Attendance: 13,009 Referee: Eddie Smith

Heart of Midlothian v Rangers

29 November 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	2–1	Rangers	Tynecastle Park
12:30	Žaliūkas 20' Kingston 23' Wallace  76'	Report	Karipidis 26 o.g.'	Attendance: 15,710 Referee: Dougie McDonald

Celtic v Heart of Midlothian

13 December 2008 SPL	Celtic	1–1	Heart of Midlothian	Celtic Park
15:00	McManus 79'	Report	Driver 23'	Attendance: 56,079 Referee: Charlie Richmond

Heart of Midlothian v Dundee United

20 December 2008 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	0–0	Dundee United	Tynecastle Park
15:00		Report		Attendance: 16,442 Referee: Wilie Collum

Aberdeen v Heart of Midlothian

27 December 2008 SPL	Aberdeen	1–0	Heart of Midlothian	Pittodrie Stadium
15:00	Miller 36'	Report	Žaliūkas  73'	Attendance: 18,021 Referee: Iain Brines

Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian

3 January 2009 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	0–0	Hibernian	Tynecastle Park
15:00		Report		Attendance: 17,244 Referee: Calum Murray

Motherwell v Heart of Midlothian

7 January 2009 SPL	Motherwell	1–0	Heart of Midlothian	Fir Park
15:00	Porter 11'	Report		Attendance: 4,928 Referee: David Somers

Kilmarnock v Heart of Midlothian

17 January 2009 SPL	Kilmarnock	0–2	Heart of Midlothian	Rugby Park
15:00		Report	Aguiar 61' Karipidis 80'	Attendance: 5,469 Referee: Charlie Richmond

Heart of Midlothian v Inverness CT

24 January 2009 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	3–2	Inverness CT	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Obua 39', 79' Kingston 90'	Report	McBain  32' Mihadjuks 56' Imrie 88'	Attendance: 13,224 Referee: Steven Conroy

Hamilton Academical v Heart of Midlothian

31 January 2009 SPL	Hamilton Academical	2–0	Heart of Midlothian	New Douglas Park
15:00	Mensing 12', 52 pen.'	Report		Attendance: 3,567 Referee: Eddie Smith

Heart of Midlothian v Aberdeen

14 February 2009 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	2–1	Aberdeen	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Nadé 45' Driver 66'	Report	Mackie 20'	Attendance: 15,049 Referee: Charlie Richmond

Heart of Midlothian v St Mirren

21 February 2009 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	1–1	St Mirren	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Jónsson 66'	Report	Dorman 90'	Attendance: 13,609 Referee: David Somers

Dundee United v Heart of Midlothian

28 February 2009 SPL	Dundee United	0–1	Heart of Midlothian	Tannadice Park
15:00		Report	Stewart 62'	Attendance: 8,529 Referee: Eddie Smith

Heart of Midlothian v Motherwell

4 March 2009 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	2–1	Motherwell	Tynecastle Park
19:45	Driver 50' Palazuelos 90'	Report	Hughes 76'	Attendance: 13,306 Referee: Brian Winter

Hibernian v Heart of Midlothian

14 March 2009 SPL	Hibernian	1–0	Heart of Midlothian	Easter Road
15:00	Fletcher 14' Bamba  45'	Report	Balogh  45'	Attendance: 15,091 Referee: Charlie Richmond

Rangers v Heart of Midlothian

21 March 2009 SPL	Rangers	2–2	Heart of Midlothian	Ibrox Stadium
15:00	Lafferty 9' Ferguson 45'	Report	Karipidis 64' Palazuelos 67'	Attendance: 50,310 Referee: Craig Thomson

Heart of Midlothian v Kilmarnock

4 April 2009 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	3–1	Kilmarnock	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Elliot 22', 29' Aguiar 49'	Report	Invincibile 8'	Attendance: 13,659 Referee: David Somers

Heart of Midlothian v Celtic

11 April 2009 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	1–1	Celtic	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Aguiar 32'	Report	Vennegoor of Hesselink 1'	Attendance: 16,514 Referee: Craig Thomson

Falkirk v Heart of Midlothian

18 April 2009 SPL	Falkirk	0–0	Heart of Midlothian	Falkirk Stadium
15:00		Report		Attendance: 6,156 Referee: Eddie Smith

Rangers v Heart of Midlothian

3 May 2009 SPL	Rangers	2–0	Heart of Midlothian	Ibrox Stadium
15:00	Velička 45' Boyd 89'	Report		Attendance: 49,663 Referee: Iain Brines

Heart of Midlothian v Hibernian

7 May 2009 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	0–1	Hibernian	Tynecastle Park
19:45	Karipidis  78'	Report	Riordan 79 pen.'	Attendance: 14,714 Referee: Steven Conroy

Aberdeen v Heart of Midlothian

12 May 2009 SPL	Aberdeen	0–0	Heart of Midlothian	Pittodrie Stadium
19:45		Report	Žaliūkas  64'	Attendance: 11,588 Referee: Stephen Finnie

Heart of Midlothian v Dundee United

16 May 2009 SPL	Heart of Midlothian	3–0	Dundee United	Tynecastle Park
15:00	Wallace 11' Aguiar 26' Jónsson 79 pen.'	Report		Attendance: 15,664 Referee: Brian Winter

Celtic v Heart of Midlothian

24 May 2009 SPL	Celtic	0–0	Heart of Midlothian	Celtic Park
15:00		Report		Attendance: 59,685 Referee: Craig Thomson

Scottish League Cup

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish League Cup

Heart of Midlothian v Airdrie United

27 August 2008 Second round	Heart of Midlothian	0–0 (a.e.t.) (3–4 p)	Airdrie United	Tynecastle Park
19:45		Report		Attendance: 6,844 Referee: Eddie Smith

Scottish Cup

Main article: 2008–09 Scottish Cup

Hibernian v Heart of Midlothian

11 January 2009 Fourth round	Hibernian	0–2	Heart of Midlothian	Easter Road
12:00	Fletcher  31'	Report	Nadé 37' Glen 90+1'	Attendance: 14,837 Referee: Craig Thompson

Heart of Midlothian v Falkirk

7 February 2009 Fifth round	Heart of Midlothian	0–1	Falkirk	Tynecastle Park
15:00		Report	Lovell 59'	Attendance: 14,569 Referee: Dougie McDonald

First team player statistics

Squad information

Last updated 24 May 2009

During the 2008–09 campaign, Hearts used thirty players in competitive games. The table below shows the number of appearances and goals scored by each player.

Number	Position	Nation	Name	Totals		SPL		League Cup		Scottish Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	ENG	Steve Banks	1	0	1+0	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
2	DF	SCO	Robbie Neilson	28	0	25+2	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
3	DF	SCO	Lee Wallace	37	2	34+0	2	1+0	0	2+0	0
4	DF	SCO	Christophe Berra	25	0	23+0	0	1+0	0	1+0	0
5	DF	GRE	Christos Karipidis	37	2	34+0	2	1+0	0	2+0	0
6	MF	ESP	Rubén Palazuelos	26	2	18+7	2	0+0	0	1+0	0
7	MF	LTU	Saulius Mikoliūnas	13	2	6+6	2	1+0	0	0+0	0
8	MF	POR	Bruno Aguiar	27	7	26+0	7	0+0	0	1+0	0
9	FW	DEN	Mike Tullberg	7	0	2+5	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
10	MF	GHA	Laryea Kingston	21	3	15+4	3	1+0	0	0+1	0
11	MF	SCO	Andrew Driver	31	5	29+0	5	0+0	0	2+0	0
12	GK	HUN	János Balogh	21	0	18+1	0	0+0	0	2+0	0
14	FW	FRA	Christian Nadé	38	3	20+16	2	0+1	0	1+0	1
15	FW	FIN	Juho Mäkelä	4	0	0+4	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
16	MF	POL	Adrian Mrowiec	10	0	6+4	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
17	MF	UGA	David Obua	30	2	21+6	2	1+0	0	2+0	0
18	MF	LTU	Deividas Česnauskis	15	0	2+11	0	0+1	0	1+0	0
19	FW	ENG	Jamie Mole	15	1	8+6	1	1+0	0	0+0	0
20	DF	SCO	Jason Thomson	11	0	8+3	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
21	DF	ISL	Eggert Jónsson	33	3	27+3	3	1+0	0	2+0	0
22	FW	SCO	Calum Elliot	13	2	8+4	2	0+0	0	0+1	0
23	MF	SCO	Michael Stewart	37	4	33+1	4	1+0	0	1+1	0
25	GK	SVK	Marián Kello	14	0	13+0	0	0+0	0	1+0	0
26	DF	LTU	Marius Žaliūkas	31	2	28+0	2	1+0	0	2+0	0
29	MF	LTU	Audrius Kšanavičius	10	1	4+5	1	0+1	0	0+0	0
30	GK	SCO	Jamie MacDonald	7	0	6+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
37	MF	SCO	Jonny Stewart	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
42	MF	SCO	David Templeton	3	0	1+2	0	0+0	0	0+0	0
51	FW	SCO	Gary Glen	10	1	2+6	0	0+0	0	1+1	1
73	MF	LTU	Arvydas Novikovas	1	0	0+1	0	0+0	0	0+0	0

• Last updated: 24 May 2009
• Source: Match Reports^[7]
• Ordered by Squad Number.

Appearances (starts and substitute appearances) and goals include those in the Scottish Premier League, League Cup, and the Scottish Cup.

Goal scorers

Last updated 13 May 2008

Place	Position	Nation	Name	SPL	League Cup	Scottish Cup	Total
1	MF		Bruno Aguiar	7	0	0	7
2	MF		Andrew Driver	5	0	0	5
3	MF		Michael Stewart	4	0	0	4
4	DF		Eggert Jónsson	3	0	0	3
	MF		Laryea Kingston	3	0	0	3
	FW		Christian Nadé	2	0	1	3
5	FW		Calum Elliot	2	0	0	2
	DF		Christos Karipidis	2	0	0	2
	MF		Saulius Mikoliūnas	2	0	0	2
	MF		David Obua	2	0	0	2
	MF		Rubén Palazuelos	2	0	0	2
	DF		Lee Wallace	2	0	0	2
	DF		Marius Žaliūkas	2	0	0	2
6	FW		Gary Glen	0	0	1	1
	FW		Jamie Mole	1	0	0	1
	FW		Audrius Kšanavičius	1	0	0	1
Total				40	0	2	42

Team statistics

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
1	Rangers (C)	38	26	8	4	77	28	+49	86	Qualification for the Champions League group stage
2	Celtic	38	24	10	4	80	33	+47	82	Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round
3	Heart of Midlothian	38	16	11	11	40	37	+3	59	Qualification for the Europa League play-off round
4	Aberdeen	38	14	11	13	41	40	+1	53	Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round
5	Dundee United	38	13	14	11	47	50	−3	53

Source: Scottish Professional Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Teams played each other three times (33 matches), before the league split into two groups (the top six and the bottom six) for the last five matches.

Management statistics

Last updated 24 May 2009

Name	From	To	P	W	D	L	Win%[a]
Csaba László	30 June 2008	24 May 2009	41	17	12	12	041.46

1. Win% is the percentage of matches won rounded to two decimal places.

Transfers

Lazslo's first signing came on 20 July 2008 when he signed Ugandan international, David Obua. On 11 August 2008, Mike Tullberg signed a one-year loan deal with Hearts, becoming Laszlo's second signing, but his career in Edinburgh was set back by recurring injury problems.

During the January transfer window the club lost Christophe Berra to Wolverhampton Wanderers in a deal worth around £2.5 million. Robbie Neilson was handed the captain's armband following Berra's departure.^[8]

Players in Player From Fee David Obua Kaizer Chiefs Free[9] Arvydas Novikovas FC Vilnius Free[10] János Balogh Debreceni VSC £185,000[11]

Players out Player To Fee Neil McCann Falkirk Free[12] Roman Bednář West Bromwich Albion £2,300,000[13] Marc McCusker Clyde Free[14] Eddie Mearns Dundee Free Mauricio Pinilla Vasco da Gama Free[15] Fernando Screpis Ayia Napa Free Ibrahim Tall Nantes Free[16] Alan Lithgow Clyde Free[17] Anthony Basso Free[18] Christophe Berra Wolverhampton Wanderers £2,500,000[19] Juho Mäkelä HJK Free[20]

Loans in Player From Fee Mike Tullberg Reggina Loan[21] Marián Kello FBK Kaunas Loan[22] János Balogh Debreceni VSC Loan[23] Adrian Mrowiec FBK Kaunas Loan[24]

Loans out Player To Fee José Gonçalves 1. FC Nürnberg Loan[25] Calum Elliot Livingston Loan[26] Craig Sives Queen of the South Loan[27] Jamie Mole Dunfermline Athletic Loan[28]

See also

• List of Heart of Midlothian F.C. seasons