The Rangers game went the complete opposite way for Hearts to what I wrote in last week’s column.
It was disappointing. Hearts went into it with a good bit of hope that they were going to get a positive result from a positive performance and it didn’t happen. Cammy Devlin ’s red card was a blow but I think he’s got that in him. He plays on the edge and when you've got a player like that, you always run the risk, especially in bigger games when emotions are high and they maybe get the better of you. You end up doing stuff you’d never normally do.
It will be a harsh lesson for him. It just shows you how important it is not to make those sorts of mistakes in the big games. But at the same time, we’ve all done it. I’ve done it. It’s just about him learning from it now.
I had the tackle I did on James McPake in the derby, but I managed to get away with it then on the park. Then I got a five-game ban after it!
Would I do it again? Probably, just knowing the way I am as a person, or the way I was as a player. If I’d been sent off and we’d lost that game, then it would have been me that let everybody down.
But that was just me, I always played on the edge and I’m probably not as smart as Cammy. If you're that kind of player, it's difficult at every level.
You look at guys like Roy Keane, they were the same in the middle of the park. Cammy just has to take his medicine and try to come back bigger, better and stronger.
When everything goes well for you - in life in general but especially on the football park - it has a funny way of something sh*t just happening or you do something that brings you straight back down to the ground, very, very quickly.
He’s gone from making his Australia debut and playing well, to this. It’s tough mentally as well because all the good work and all the positives? All he’ll be thinking about is the negative thing. He’ll feel he’s the one that’s cost them and if he was still on the pitch, they might have got a goal back. All that will go through his head but everybody makes mistakes in life.
It’s key in the big games. You saw Jorge Grant get sent off against FC Zurich with Hearts on top and it changed the game. Against the better teams, it’s difficult with 11 men on the pitch, never mind ten. They’re always good at picking you off with ten men, it plays into their hands.
They don’t come any bigger than Fiorentina so every player has to be at it and stay calm. Paulo Sergio used to say it all the time, especially in the derby games, but I never took it on board!
You usually find that the team that wins the game is the one with the cool heads and plays with their head rather than their heart. You have to marry both together and not go in all guns blazing.
You need to be ice cool out there and they’ll definitely need that on Thursday. It’s 11 guys vs 11 guys though and it’s at Tynecastle.
It doesn’t get any better. I used to watch Fiorentina on Football Italia growing up on Channel 4 and it was always Fiorentina with Batistuta, Chiesa and Rui Costa.
A club like that coming to Tynecastle is just immense. It’s a game these players will remember for the rest of their careers. They’re one of the most renowned clubs in world football. A massive club in Italy.
But as much as it’s a glamour tie to enjoy, Hearts are there to try and win the game. It’s not just about turning up and going: “Ah aye, this is amazing, we’ll see what happens.” They’ll have a game plan and there’s no reason why they can’t get a positive result.
But I don’t want to jinx it because obviously I said that last week and they got spanked! The fans will have to stay patient. Europe is completely different to domestic football. Fiorentina might have the ball for 89 minutes then we go up the park once and score for a 1-0. They’ll still need the fans for those 89 minutes and I’m sure they’ll be behind the boys 100 per cent.
But there will be long spells when Hearts don’t have the ball, so it’s about concentration and doing the right things. If we do get a chance, then whoever it falls to has to take it.
I keep banging the drum about him, but having Craig Halkett back would be massive. Every time he doesn’t play, there’s a massive hole there. Just the vibe that goes through the team when he’s there, it transforms everything, I don’t know how it happens but it does. He’s that big a player.
Plenty of people messaged me when Stephen Humphrys signed saying he was my love child - he’s a legend! He’s done well and hopefully he keeps impressing.
And he’s obviously the second best looking tattooed guy in Scottish football!
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