Walter Kidd saw the pain, the anguish, the tears - and the same old dark memories came flooding back. The look on every Hearts player as they trooped off the team bus outside Tynecastle last month having just seen the title ripped from their grasp in the final minutes of the season was like being teleported back in time. To May 3, 1986 and the aftermath of a 2-0 defeat at Dundee that will forever be ingrained in Hearts infamy. No Jambo needs dragged through those painful memories again.
Club legend Kidd certainly isn't for delving into the why and the how of it all. He knows all too well the feeling coming off that bus having had your heart broken. Yet it's the memory of being on the coach back from Tayside that he reckons is the biggest difference between then and now. Kidd insists there's proper reason to look forward with belief that last season can actually be the foundation for real, sustained success. That wasn't the case in 1986, according to the former Tynecastle defender who made over 460 appearances in a Gorgie career spanning three decades.
As one of the senior group of players in Alex MacDonald's side he knew, in his heart of hearts, that THAT was their chance to become kings of Scottish football. The Graeme Souness revolution was setting in at Rangers and 12 months later the Ibrox club would romp to the title with the Jambos languishing in fifth. Forty years on the Old Firm may be preparing to tool up and Rangers might even have nicked Hearts captain. But Kidd is convinced this Jambos side, boosted by Tony Bloom's recruitment magic, are here to stay.
Keeping the squad fresh is key, he reckons. And with Calvin Miller, Amadou Ba-Sy, Josh McPake and MJ Kamson-Kamara just the start of a summer rebuild the signs are positive. Kidd told Record Sport: "Seeing those players come off the bus last month brought it all back. Believe me, losing the league like that is a hard thing to take. But the club is different now to 1986, no doubt about it. First of all you have Jamestown Analytics and Tony Bloom in there and you can see already that they're signing new players. We didn't change many players back in 1986. In football you have to keep changing, keep improving and freshening up. Obviously Rangers and Celtic are going to recruit a lot. But so are Hearts and we're still going to be up there. Listen, Tony Bloom said we'd win the league within 10 years - and to come that close in the first year really gets you believing. You can only hope that he brings the right players in to keep things moving forward."
Like it or not, parallels between the season just ended and 1986 will continue to be thrown at Hearts until they can get over the line. But Kidd said: "Back in 1986, we had that chance. That was it. Coming back in the bus a lot of the younger lads like Gary Mackay, David Bowman, John Robertson were thinking, 'it's okay, we'll do it next year'. But to be honest, the older guys like me, Sandy Clark and Andy Watson realised THAT was our chance. Rangers weren't a particularly good side that year. But they had Graeme Souness coming in. He started recruiting, bringing quality players up from down south like Terry Butcher, England captain. You're like, 'wow'. That was a big kick on for them. He did brilliant for Rangers, Souness. They spent money on it, but Rangers can afford to do that. That's the difference. Celtic were having a bad time as well. So that season was our opportunity. We just had to draw with Dundee in the last game. But it never happened. You just have to hope Hearts can keep moving forward now. Recruitment probably is the key to making sure that happens. But there's a lot of players still there - Steinwender, Findlay, Halkett, although he's injured, Milne, Magnussen, Braga - there's a really good squad there and they've added four already with more to come. Obviously Lawrence Shankland is a big, big miss going to Rangers. Good luck to him, he's 30-year-old. He's got a life as well. He's realised he's coming to the end of his career, this was probably his last big move but he's done great for us. He's done well to get that in his contract that he can go for free - nobody saw that coming."
Kidd may sit seventh in the club's all-time record appearance holders but he was happy merging in with the wall of maroon at Tynecastle as a regular punter last season. He felt the hurt and frustration like every other fan after Daizen Maeda and Callum Osmand netted in the 87th and 98th minute of the final game at Parkhead to pinch the title. But under Derek McInnes he is convinced Hearts will bounce back. He said: "He's done great keeping the players together, to bond together. There were a lot of players left out but when they came in were excellent. I look at Steinwender, he came in and did brilliant. Of course it hurt at the end. It was more about the consequences leading up to it that sort of made it hard to take. Some of the decisions, that was the most difficult bit. But they have Champions League qualifiers to look forward to and hopefully another season challenging at the top. I really do think they can go again."
