Forget Sir Alex Ferguson. It’s snakehips Colin Chisholm that Hearts need to be recruiting as their secret weapon, their talisman, from now until the end of the season.
At every home game from now until this fantastic journey is over, the 73-year-old singer really needs to be out there on the Tynecastle pitch before kick-off, belting out the Hearts song and leading the crowd with the same vigour he showed at the weekend.
His rendition of what is unquestionably the best football anthem on the planet, bar none, was brilliant.
It stirred the blood of the home punters and created a terrific atmosphere ahead of kick-off. And it’s tempting to think it played a part in laying the foundations for an impressive team performance in beating Aberdeen 1-0, a display that delivered a pleasing tempo from the beginning and was better than it has been in weeks.
Chisholm, you see, has skin in the game here. He’s a Jambo. He recorded an updated version of the Hearts song back in 1986 along with the first-team squad, which, at that time, looked like winning a historic league title too. And we all know what happened back then.
He deserves his shot at redemption. Of being there, doing his bit, as his favourites endeavour to get over the line this time round. What goes on over these last nine games in the chase for the flag – four of which will most probably take place in Gorgie – should be a Hearts thing for Hearts people and by Hearts people.
Singer Colin Chisholm belts out the Hearts song ahead of their 1-0 victory against Aberdeen
Hearts striker Claudio Braga sweeps in the only goal of the game at Tynecastle on Saturday
Sir Alex Ferguson was among Hearts’ guests on another special day at the Gorgie ground
This whole thing about Ferguson passing on advice to Derek McInnes for weeks and turning up at the game at the weekend with a maroon tie on has been fine. A nice little diversion. But the 84-year-old former Manchester United manager has absolutely nothing to do with Hearts.
At the start of the season, he was turning up at Rangers games, going to their training ground, and picking up the phone to then manager Russell Martin as Andrew Cavenagh and the San Francisco 49ers got their feet under the table.
More pertinently, he was the bloke who hammered the final nail into the coffin of that 1986 Hearts team – by leading Aberdeen to a 3-0 win over them in the Scottish Cup final just a week after they had thrown away the league at Dens Park.
It just feels peculiar and a little bit wrong that he should be the VIP guest at the centre of attention when the Gorgie outfit are pushing for the title again. If he wants to turn up, take in a game and spend an hour or so in McInnes’ office the way he did at the weekend, there’s no problem with that.
From now on, though, it should really be Hearts legends feted and celebrated in the posh seats, made a meal of, used to help stir old memories of success and tap into all the old spirits and emotions from the past in this fantastic venue inhabited by a splendid old club.
There is no shortage of people to call upon. Jim Jefferies, Rudi Skacel, John Robertson, Gilles Rousset, Stephane Adam, Paulo Sergio, Colin Cameron, Takis Fyssas, Gary Locke. The list is as long as the Gorgie Road.
Have at least a couple of them along to every game and make their presence known. Get them on the pitch with Colin Chisholm, if you like, for a sing-song. Flash footage of them lifting cups or scoring goals on those big screens until the cows come home.
Saturday showed that doing these little, extra things to boost the mood, heighten the atmosphere and make Tynecastle even more of a bearpit can pay off.
The nature of the display at the weekend should give all Hearts fans such encouragement. Claudio Braga, whose 28th-minute finish made the difference, was just brilliant. For a guy who was playing in the Norwegian second tier not so long ago, the way he has taken such responsibility on his shoulders up front is admirable.
Jamie McCart came into the line-up at centre-back and offered strong evidence that the absence of Stuart Findlay need not be a major impediment.
McInnes’ revelation that Cammy Devlin and Stephen Kingsley could be back for the home game with Dundee on March 21 with captain Lawrence Shankland in contention to return the following week for the trip to Livingston should only keep the feelgood factor rolling.
Asked about his own thoughts on Chisholm’s contribution to proceedings, McInnes replied: ‘He did well, didn’t he? He just said to me that he’s just glad he never jinxed it. I said: “You and me both”. But, no, he sung well.
‘Like I say, I’m loving what we’re getting at Tynecastle. We’ve had a lot of good days here this season and, hopefully, there’s a few more to come.’
Chisholm should be part of them. When you hear him sing that immortal line ‘some say the Rangers and Celtic are grand, but the boys in maroon are the best in the land’, the more you start to believe he might be right.
HEARTS (4-4-2): Schwolow 7; Steinwender 7, Halkett 7, McCart 7, Milne 7.5; Kyziridis 6 (Kent 84), Magnusson 7, Leonard 7, Spittal 7 (Baningime 87); BRAGA 8 (Chesnokov 88), Kabore 7.
Booked: Halkett, McCart, Spittal.
Manager: Derek McInnes 8
ABERDEEN (4-1-4-1): Mitov 6; Devlin 6 (Lobban 71), Morrison 5, Milne 6, Molloy 6; Shinnie 5 (Heltne Nilsen 46); Olusanya 6 (Lazetic 79), Geiger 5, Cameron 5 (Armstrong 66), Keskinen 5 (Frame 46); Nisbet 5.
Booked: Shinnie, Geiger, Devlin, Milne, Frame.
Manager: Peter Leven 5.
Referee: Kevin Clancy.
Attendance: 18,788.
