2006–07 Heart of Midlothian F.C. season

Heart of Midlothian

2006–07 season
Chairman	Roman Romanov
Manager	Valdas Ivanauskas Eduard Malofeev Anatoliy Korobochka
Stadium	Tynecastle Stadium Murrayfield Stadium
Scottish Premier League	4th
UEFA Champions League	Qualifying Round 3
Uefa Cup	First Round
Scottish Cup	Fourth Round
League Cup	Quarter Final
Top goalscorer	League: Andrius Velicka (9) All: Andrius Velicka (12)
Highest home attendance	32,459 V AEK Athens Champions League 9 August 2006
Lowest home attendance	15,912 V Inverness SPL 26 August 2006
← 2005–06 2007–08 →

The 2007–07 season was the 110th season of competitive football by Heart of Midlothian, and their 24th consecutive season in the top level of Scottish football, competing in the Scottish Premier League. Hearts also competed in the Champions League, UEFA Cup, Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.

Valdas Ivanauskas was confirmed as head coach on a permanent basis during the summer of 2006 following the Scottish Cup victory.

Following an inconsistent start to their League campaign, head coach Valdas Ivanauskas took a sabbatical from his role on 23 October. Eduard Malofeev was appointed interim head coach until Valdas Ivanauskas later in the season although he only resumed the role for a short time before becoming director of football once again an interim head couch was required and previous director of football Anatoly Korobochka took charge of the team.

Squad at end of season^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  SCO Craig Gordon 2 DF  SCO Robbie Neilson 3 DF  GRE Takis Fyssas 5 DF  SEN Ibrahim Tall[2] 6 MF  LTU Nerijus Barasa (on loan from FBK Kaunas) 7 MF  SCO Neil McCann 8 MF  POR Bruno Aguiar (on loan from FBK Kaunas) 9 FW  LTU Edgaras Jankauskas 11 FW  CZE Michal Pospíšil 12 FW  CZE Roman Bednář 13 GK  ENG Steve Banks 14 MF  BIH Mirsad Bešlija 16 MF  LTU Saulius Mikoliūnas 18 MF  LTU Deividas Česnauskis (on loan from FBK Kaunas) 19 FW  CHI Mauricio Pinilla (on loan from Sporting CP) 20 DF  SCO Christophe Berra 21 DF  POR José Gonçalves (on loan from FBK Kaunas) 22 FW  SCO Calum Elliot 23 DF  SCO Lee Wallace

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 MF  LTU Kęstutis Ivaškevičius (on loan from FBK Kaunas) 25 DF  GRE Christos Karipidis 26 DF  LTU Marius Žaliūkas (on loan from FBK Kaunas) 27 FW  LTU Andrius Velička (on loan from FBK Kaunas) 28 MF  FRA Julien Brellier 29 FW  ISL Hjálmar Þórarinsson 30 GK  SCO Jamie MacDonald 31 DF  SCO Marco Pelosi 32 DF  NIR David Armstrong 33 FW  IRL Denis McLaughlin 34 MF  GHA Laryea Kingston (on loan from Terek Grozny) 35 FW  ENG Jamie Mole 36 MF  SCO John Neill 37 MF  SCO Andrew Driver[3] 40 DF  ISL Eggert Jónsson 43 GK  LTU Eduardas Kurskis (on loan from FBK Kaunas) 44 FW  POL Arkadiusz Klimek (on loan from FBK Kaunas) 45 FW  LTU Linas Pilibaitis (on loan from FBK Kaunas)

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 4 DF  SCO Steven Pressley (to Celtic) 10 MF  SCO Paul Hartley (to Celtic) 15 FW  FIN Juho Mäkelä (on loan to FC Thun) 17 DF  POR Tiago Costa (released)

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 MF  ENG Lee Johnson (to Bristol City) 34 MF  NIR Matthew Doherty (on loan to Cowdenbeath) 38 GK  SWE Milan Barjaktarevic (to Kalmar FF)

Hearts travelled to Austria for a pre season tour

Hearts played their home 2006/2007 European Champions League games at Murrayfield Stadium, rather than in their home ground Tynecastle. A combination of Tynecastle falling short of UEFA requirements in terms of pitch size and hospitality facilities, and Murrayfield's greater capacity, meant that Murrayfield was the preferred choice for the Tynecastle board. Hearts won their second round qualifying tie against Bosnian champions Široki Brijeg 3–0 on aggregate, but were defeated 5–1 on aggregate by AEK Athens in the final qualifying round. The Greek side won 2–1 at Murrayfield due to two late goals and then won 3–0 in the Athens Olympic Stadium. Hearts had one player (Bruno Aguiar) sent off in the first leg and two players (Julien Brellier and Neil McCann) sent off in the second leg.

The loss in the final qualifying round meant that Hearts dropped into the UEFA Cup first round against Sparta Prague. In this competition they lost 2–0 at a muddy Murrayfield in the first leg and they were eliminated after a 0–0 draw in Prague in the return leg on 28 September 2006.

Following an indifferent start to their League campaign, head coach Valdas Ivanauskas took a sabbatical from his role on 23 October. Club owner Vladimir Romanov, who stated "I have full confidence in Valdas and look forward to his return",^[4] appointed the club's sporting director, Eduard Malofeev, as interim head coach. Further off-field disruption ensued four days later when Romanov warned his players that they would all be put up for sale if Hearts did not win their match against Dunfermline Athletic the next day. Captain Steven Pressley, flanked by senior players Paul Hartley and Craig Gordon, responded with a statement voicing the players' unhappiness at affairs at the club, stating in a pre-match media conference ahead of Dunfermline's visit that there was "significant unrest" in the dressing room.^[5] The game was drawn 1–1.

The repercussions from the press conference stretched over several months and eventually led to the departure from the club of two of the so-called Riccarton Three.^[6] Pressley was dropped for a match against Falkirk on 13 November^[7] and named as an unused substitute for a 1–0 defeat by Rangers on 19 November.^[8] Hartley was only used as a substitute in the former game. Pressley eventually left Hearts on 9 December, with accompanying press releases stating that this was an amicable agreement. He joined rivals Celtic on 1 January 2007 and captained his new squad to a 2–1 victory at Tynecastle on his first return to Edinburgh. Hartley also moved to Celtic during January 2007, in a £1.1 million transfer on 31 January. This only left Gordon, who was dropped for matches away to Dundee United and Rangers in December and January respectively, as the only member of the trio to remain at Hearts beyond the January transfer window.

Hearts failed to win a game under the management of Eduard Malofeev, who took control during Ivanauskas' sabbatical. Hearts lost at Celtic and Hibernian – a result which eliminated Hearts from the CIS Cup – and at home to Rangers. He remained as caretaker manager until late November 2006 when, despite media reports anticipating the appointment of Eugenijus Riabovas,^[9] Ivanauskas returned to resume his duties as club manager.^[10]

A 1–0 loss in the Scottish Cup at Dunfermline on 3 February 2007, with Gordon on the bench, ended Hearts' chance to retain the trophy. Later that month, Ivanauskas was moved to a director of football role,^[11] with director of football Anatoly Korobochka assuming the role of interim head coach on 2 March. An improved run of form towards the end of the season witnessed Hearts challenge Aberdeen for third spot in the League and UEFA Cup qualification. The Dons scored a last minute equaliser in a head-to-head confrontation between the two teams at Tynecastle in May, and eventually finished four points clear in third place.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation[a]
2	Rangers	38	21	9	8	61	32	+29	72	Qualification for the Champions League second qualifying round
3	Aberdeen	38	19	8	11	55	38	+17	65	Qualification for the UEFA Cup first round
4	Heart of Midlothian	38	17	10	11	47	35	+12	61
5	Kilmarnock	38	16	7	15	47	54	−7	55
6	Hibernian	38	13	10	15	56	46	+10	49

On the eve of the SPL season, Hearts announced the capture of Chile striker Mauricio Pinilla on a season-long loan. PAOK Salonika's Christos Karipidis and Tiago Costa, a full back from Benfica B were also signed, while in the final week of the transfer window three further Lithuanian players – Marius Žaliūkas, Kęstutis Ivaškevičius and Andrius Velička – joined on loan from FBK Kaunas. Hearts fans still anticipated the arrival of "two World Cup stars" but were left disappointed when the club announced that the final piece of business of the transfer window would be to sign the previously-loaned striker Roman Bednář on a permanent deal.

• List of Heart of Midlothian F.C. seasons

• 2006–07 Heart of Midlothian F.C. season at ESPN