00:00First again, second in the Scottish Premiership at Tynecastle this weekend.
00:04Hearts welcoming Celtic.
00:05Hearts, after the result at the weekend, Barry.
00:08Hearts beating Kilmarnock, Dundee beating Celtic.
00:10Hearts are five points clear at the top.
00:12They'll go eight points clear if they win this game.
00:16Is that when we start seriously talking about a Tynecastle or is it still far too early?
00:21I think it's, if you're going to say seriously, it's probably a bit early because you're only eight games in.
00:27But I do think that the supporters, certainly Hearts supporters, are entitled to enjoy the moment,
00:31enjoy the fact that their team is top of the league and potentially now could go eight points clear if they beat Celtic on Sunday.
00:37I think it's one of the, you know, football is a really fickle sport.
00:40Everybody, we all know what the bad times are like.
00:43Fans know how much they suffer at times.
00:45And Hearts fans are absolutely right to rejoice in the state of play just now
00:50and the fact that the team are five points ahead of Celtic
00:53and looking like they've got the kind of credentials to go the distance.
00:57A lot's been made, Barry, of the Aberdeen run last season.
01:00They took it to 11 games without defeat.
01:04Celtic were more impressive last season than the Huffman at the start of this season.
01:07Do you think there's lessons that can be learned from that?
01:09Are there any parallels that can be drawn?
01:11I don't know if there's too many.
01:12I think it's probably more about what Hearts do when that first defeat comes
01:17and how they react to it and how resilient they are with mental strength and stuff like that.
01:21I would say that I think the Aberdeen team last year, in terms of the squad depth,
01:27it's not quite, it wasn't at the same level as the squad depth that Hearts have got this year.
01:30So that might be a difference.
01:31The only time will tell in that regard.
01:33But overall, I think right now, I think Hearts are riding the wave now
01:38and so they should.
01:39When the defeat comes, they have to react in the right way.
01:42And I think that's where Derek McInnes and his experience will come in
01:44because he'll know how to handle, obviously, defeats and how to recover from them.
01:49So they are in a very good place.
01:53We're a good coaching team, good management team.
01:55And as I say, a stack of really good players.
01:57I want to speak about Hearts, Barry.
01:59Is there any one thing that you can put your finger on
02:02that really is behind this terrific run of form that's kicked off the season for them?
02:06I think it's down to, mainly down to the players.
02:10It doesn't matter what management setup you've got,
02:13what recruitment you've got, how much money you've got.
02:16You need the best players that you can get on the park.
02:19And if you've got enough quality and you've got a good structure
02:22and you've got a good balance in your team
02:24and you have squad depth, as we've already mentioned,
02:27then a lot of those things are key for success.
02:31And Hearts have got all those things at the minute.
02:33If you look at their team, the team that started,
02:35they've now named the same team for four games on the bounce.
02:39New signings are peppered throughout that.
02:42You've got the goalkeeper, Alexander Swalov.
02:44You've got Ocean McIntyre at right back.
02:47You could include Harry Milne as a new signing
02:49because he hardly featured last year.
02:51Casey Redis out wide.
02:53You've got Braga up front.
02:55So there's the core of a team that you've brought in
02:57and they have jailed quickly.
02:59They've had to jail quickly.
03:00And I think they've clearly been plucked from all corners of the globe.
03:03And they've still got other stronger players to come back.
03:05Ajou, Frankie Kent, people like that who haven't been playing regularly.
03:09Craig Gordon's clearly obviously on the bench.
03:11We've swallowed in good form.
03:13So all these things, the strength, the quality in so many different areas,
03:18for me, that's what it's down to.
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