Hearts' standout signing this season might be the one that slipped past the analytics: goalkeeper Beau Reus, the only new arrival whose data wasn't on Tony Bloom's supercomputer because, as it turns out, "it doesn't do goalkeepers."
The Dutchman has flown under the radar, overshadowed by the free-flowing attacking style Wouter Vrancken has brought to Gorgie. But his impact between the sticks has been every bit as impressive as fellow new boys Josh McPake and Calvin Miller at the other end of the park—if not more so.
A monumental task at Tynecastle
No signing that has arrived at Hearts in recent years has faced anything like the scale of the task Reus encountered. Being handed the number one jersey that for the previous six years was the sole preserve of the club's greatest ever goalkeeper is as big as it gets.
Reus admitted in his first media session that living up to Craig Gordon's standards was going to take years of work because, in his words, "in this country I think he was the greatest of all time." It wasn't just Gordon who needed replacing—Alexander Schwolow had come in last year and was arguably the best goalkeeper in the Premiership, which only magnified the spotlight on Reus.
Yet in the 6ft 6in shotstopper, Hearts appear to have found a figure who not only does the job but has already proved he has the ability and personality to fill that number one shirt. It's not just the big saves—and there've been plenty of those—it's the way the former SK Beveren keeper carries himself.
Calm amid chaos
That aura of calm amid chaos was Gordon's trademark, and Reus has shown that quality to stay focused, ready, and unflustered—essential in Vrancken's front-foot, risk-and-reward style that has seen Hearts batter at opposition doors but leave their own ajar. Those who work with Reus daily at the Oriam say the same: relaxed, down-to-earth, calm, unflappable.
Those traits have manifested in already huge performances. On that heroic night in Vienna when 10 men mowed down Rapid to secure European league phase football, Reus was a giant. A Gordon-esque reaction save in the first leg at Tynecastle stopped the Jambos trailing 2-0 at half time, and another crucial one-on-one block at the same stage of the second leg in Austria avoided the same deficit—before the heroics in the penalty shootout.
Reus has been producing the same in domestic competition. Against Hibs in the derby, at 1-0 up, he kept his nerve to stay big and spread at the right time to stop Nathan Lowe one-on-one. A week earlier he denied St Johnstone's Josh Fowler an equaliser, having already produced a fine stop from the same player shortly before half time.
Big saves, big moments
Big saves at big moments in big games, using that huge frame and never-ending limbs to full effect, just like Gordon. The irony is that Hearts' goals-against column doesn't tell the story—just two clean sheets from 13 games in all competitions doesn't sound spectacular. But as John McGlynn said after witnessing the Jambos' attacking gameplan at Falkirk last week, "I think Hearts will win games 5-4 and things like that."
It's asking a lot of Reus to keep those numbers down, and in doing so, the 24-year-old's own figures on a value scale must be soaring. The recruitment bods at Tynecastle have got this one spot on, Jamestown or no Jamestown.
