Editorial

I think this season, more than any in recent history is going to make or break Scottish football. If nine becomes ten, the rest of us may as well shut up shop. If it stops this season, they both have nine each and we can all go on living normally again. It won't have escaped anybodys notice at Davie's testimonial that even the whole Rangers reserve team contains internationalists. The enormity of the task was all too evident at the league opener when they got all the breaks. All we have to cling to is the forlorn hope that maybe all their signings will not gel together and hence they will lose games. That is why this season is so important; if you believe that Rangers are virtually invincible, where does that leave the rest of us? We get a laugh out of the situation at Celtic, which is highly amusing and pathetic at the same time. How many of you actually thought hibs winning the opener was highly amusing? The situation at fester road is looking up, but their defence is crap. The only other team on a par with us who have made significant signings are Aberdeen. They needed to do something and it will be interesting to see if Jess can recapture his form of old. Dundee Utd have not progressed much and surely they can't get all the same breaks they got last season?

So what about the Jambos? We have two new signings in Flogel and Adam who, on paper are pretty good (but then, wasn't Paille a former player of the year?). We have a pretty good squad if they stay injury free (not a good start then!). We have four players capable of playing for Scotland, we also have Rousset and Salvatori. We have the strongest reserve team in Scotland (although it will be interesting to see how they perform without the influence of Bruno). In addition we have what everybody has been describing as a new intimidating stadium. Flogel was pish on his debut against Rangers and Adarn hardly got a fair chance but still managed to have an "assist". It is early days. you will be like myself, trying to make sense of Mondays game and coming up empty. It has implications, the linesman cheated, that is clear. There is no way he could have seen the ball from where he was standing. The referee cheated as well. In a game where 30 fouls were committed, 14 by the home side, 16 by the away side, to book six players on the away side and NONE on the home side is a gives the word biased new meaning. Don't forget that when a player is booked, his performance suffers and he can become indecisive, giving his opponent an edge. Don't get me wrong, Rangers deserved to win because of Jefferies poor tactics and because Neil McCann didn't show up, and because our defence decided to play russian roulette. All of the Rangers goals could have been avoided. It just hacks me off no end that the Old Firm get away with it all the time. Ask yourself one question seriously. IF THE INCIDENT HAD HAPPENED AT THE OTHER END AND IT WAS GORAM, WOULD THE LINESMAN HAVE GIVEN THE GOAL? I could be accused of being bitter but you also have to ask yourself why Tom Boyd wasn't sent of for his outrageous tackle on Rougier. Hibs won the day, but still had to put up with another blatantly biased refereeing decision.

Enough bitterness. At this point I want to point out to every person reading this that the stadium is only going to have the promised atmosphere if WE, the fans give it some. During the close season, the federation clubs received a questionnaire from Chris Robinson asking what we thought of having a designated singing area. I assume all the clubs voted in favour, since 100% of our poll returns indicated that this was needed. Since the questionnaire, all has been quiet on the reasons why Hearts decided not to go ahead with the plan.

Off the field it has been a funny old close season. It all started with the share issue which I cannot pretend to understand fully. To a lay person like myself with no business expertise, having someone throw five million at the club seems fine. In return, we get a new stand, a new shop, undersoil heating, the promise of international matches, we get corporate facilities and just maybe if there's enough left, we get some real seats in the old stand. If I think back five years when I was pissing in the rain in the shed, I'd say we'd cracked it! However, we did not qualify for Europe and our shares have dipped alarmingly. My laymans question is, what happens if this season turns out not to be a success and the share value dips alarmingly, what happens? How much of what has been put in place cannot be reversed, and how is the overall debt of the club affected by the fluctuation in the stock market? Chris Robinson is paying himself over £75,000 per year plus additional benefits, I think I'd like him to be more vocal.

Not withstanding the end of season poll, which gives the current board pass marks, I am disappointed with Chris Robinson since he became the chief executive. There are two well publicised incidents which have taken place and both have been splashed all over the papers.

THE "NEW" BADGE. Football fans are a funny breed. They think that because they spend most of their disposable income on overpriced replica tops and expensive season tickets, they have a right to be consulted. I've got news for you, when someone controls a football club, democracy and logic go out the window. As a chief executive, you have power, and as such, you feel as though your good ideas are everybody's good ideas. Wrong. Chris Robinson made an error when he announced the change of badge. He committed a cardinal sin and that was to alienate the very people he so desperately needs to impress. Yes, shareholders are important, but not to the exclusion of the fans. That is not to say that a change of badge is a bad idea, it's the arrogance of the person to decide what the badge should be like and announce it glibly in the press. Could Chris Robinson have seriously believed that the Hearts support would just say "okay Chris, do whatever you like". Apparently his mistake cost Hearts a bit of money because he had to delay the printing of the new badge on the stationary. This is only my opinion, but why not let your supporters know firstly that the badge is to be redesigned, and secondly why it is to be redesigned, and why not do this a few months before you have made a deal concerning the new badge? Just a suggestion...

THE TESTIMONIAL. This is a strange one. The newspapers reported that a Hearts spokesman said the testimonial committee decided to give the Wheatfield stand to the great unwashed. Our editorial team have spoken in person with Davie McPherson (at Berwick) and he stated that the decision was made by Chris Robinson and the police (we don't know who had the casting vote). I have spent ages thinking about what possible reasons there could be for Hearts putting a Rangers fan in the seat I had just paid £260 to sit in, and I can come up with two possible scenarios...

1. Safety. I don't buy this. If safety was a factor, they wouldn't have sent us round behind the main stand to get in, only to be separated from the huns by a piece of red tape. Similarly, at the end of the game, the school end fans and the Wheatfield stand fans merged and there was no police presence. Anyway, who fights at a testimonial match anyway?

2. Chris Robinson seriously believed that Hearts fans would not turn up, hence he assumed that since the loyal Rangers fans turn up anywhere and in great numbers, he tried to maximise the turnout by giving us the crap seats cos we would be there anyway. Nice try, Chris, but you forget that Davie is a Jambo now, and many huns didn't take to him second time round. There was a crowd of under ten thousand present, and I know a fair few people who chose not to attend because they did not have access to their "own seat". You could say these people missed the point and should have attended, but equally, you could say that the person who thought the Rangers fans deserved the best seats in the house was misguided. Again, why not just ask the fans instead of doing something stupid? It's silly

Jesus, this editorial is going on a bit. before you decide to put the fanzine in the bin, I feel I have to re-iterate that I am positive about the new season - there is much to look forward to, although in the words of Gerry McNee "Hearts are capable of winning a trophy, if they ever get to a final where they don't play Rangers". Despite the season opener we have optimism, although I do believe we just need a piece of luck now and again.

Our fanzine is now in it's eighth year, a phenomenal record compared with other publications which have gone by the wayside (the federation and Hearts themselves cannot sustain such momentum). We have succeeded because anyone who is reading this can (and has) contributed whenever the occasion arises. Our contributor database numbers over 50. They don't contribute every issue, but what NO IDLE TALK guarantees is that unlike other fanzines, we will put our names to our articles. Beware fanzines who'se contributors keep themselves secret, this is a sign that you are only listening to a single opinion. This is not a fanzine written by one or two people, this is probably the only forum in East Central Scotland where reasonable opinions can be voiced. Our print run is 1,200. Research shows that at least three people read each fanzine, which means that what you are reading now is read by nearly 4,000 people. You count the words in the next issue of the Jambo, and compare it with the number of words contained here then judge which is the better read.

Lastly, this season on the back page we are monitoring on an ongoing basis the players of the match (in your opinion). These men of the match awards are up to anyone reading this. Regular readers will know that we usually bring our 4 issues a season (August, November, January, April or thereabouts). If you want to give your input to the man of the match, why not keep your votes for the first 8 games or so, then send them in, we will use them in our final decision. Ultimately we will give an award to the relevant player and you can be content in the knowledge that you played a part.

Take me back to the issue 35 contents page