"We paid our wages on time," say Hearts.
"Naw. You didnae," say the SPL.
A prize to whoever identifies the voice of reason and truth in the parcel of rogues contributing to the latest farrago over Hearts and the saga of the paid/unpaid wages.
As it stands Hearts are to be charged "under SPL Rule A3.

Day five of our SPL Advent. Peace and goodwill to all me. It's a time for stout Hearts.
Somebody suggested that I could fill every day of this SPL Advent writing about Hearts.
And so I could.
The stories just keep coming.
On Thursday we got the news that the club had paid the players their November wages.

Here it is then. The end.
Thanks to everyone who has contributed here and on Twitter.
Thanks to everyone who had donated to Alzheimer Scotland and/or the Homeless World Cup.
OK.
It's been quite a 24 hours. I've confused myself with some of the debating angles I've taken.

Welcome one and all. The first post in the Scottish Football Blog's 24 hour blogathon. Enjoy.
A perfect starting point, then, suggested by the Twitter fixture that is @steakheed
This might seem like a bit of a cheat. People who read this blog will know I don't shy from a spot of Hibernian navel gazing.

To mark Remembrance Day two more entries in the Scottish Football Blog's Forgotten Scotland Players series.
Two players who were part of the most famous Hearts team of them all.
Forgotten Scotland Players: George Sinclair
Football in Scotland didn't stop during the conflict of 1914-1918.

"Hearts are to work with City of Edinburgh Council to look into the feasibility of a community stadium, the football club have revealed." (BBC Sport)
And the alarm bells start ringing.
Yes, I'm a Hibs fan.
And many Hibs fans will recoil at the very suggestion - and at this stage a suggestion is all it is - that the City of Edinburgh Council should get involved in a Hearts stadium scheme.

Billy Brown is the new assistant manager at Hibs.
It's going to feel odd typing that for some time to come. Rumours had been swirling all week but it still came as a bit of a shock when the announcement was made.
That shouldn't really be the reaction.
Everything you've heard about Hibs v Aberdeen last Sunday is probably an understatement.

Hearts' Thrashing Shows Financial Fair Play Is Misdirected - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

When Tottenham stepped off the pitch at Tynecastle, having subjected a Hearts team who finished in 3rd place in the SPL last season and briefly looked to challenge the Old Firm duopoly the laments for the state of Scottish football were loud and numerous.

Spurs traveled north into Scotland and paid Hearts a visit at Tynecastle in the qualifying round of the Europa League last week. Harry Redknapp has made no secret of his dislike of the Europa League mainly because of the scheduling and the possibility of long distance travel. He was very public as were his assistant coaches that many of the younger players would be appearing in the Europa League matches, so senior players can focus on league matches as Spurs turn their attention to a Champions League spot and possibility of the league title.

Spurs traveled north into Scotland and paid Hearts a visit at Tynecastle in the qualifying round of the Europa League last week. Harry Redknapp has made no secret of his dislike of the Europa League mainly because of the scheduling ...

Playing arm in arm was never going to be anything other than annoying for all concerned If every Thursday night in the Europa League proves to be as entertaining and one-sided as that, then TBFWHL won't be complaining one jot.
For all the pre-match talk of Spurs being rusty after their delayed start to the season and Tynecastle creating an intimidatory atmosphere to knock a patched up Spurs off their stride, Harry Redknapp's men put their north-of-the-border opponents to the sword with a swashbuckling 5-0 win that effectively killed the tie off as a contest, much in the same fashion as Tottenham's last European game was over by the end of the first leg.

With Scotland's capital hosting the world to the delights of the Edinburgh Festival, Tottenham were treating the people of Tynecastle to a festival of football, not seen in these parts for a long, long time.

Before the game, Harry Redknapp had said he expected a hostile atmosphere and a tough game.

The phrase "European competition" had a somewhat redundant feel to it this evening, after Tottenham Hotpur cruised to a comfortable win against Heart of Midlothian at Tynecastle in a match that felt at times like a training match for the visitors from the Premier League. It was a match that might, under a certain light, have had the feel of a possible surprise on the cards.

Hearts vs Tottenham Goals 0-5 Highlights Video 2011 Europa League is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Hearts vs Tottenham Goals 0-5 Highlights Video 2011 Europa League is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Hearts vs Tottenham 2011 ( Hearts of Midlothian v Spurs 2011) 18th August, 2011- Tynecastle, Edinburgh, Europa League Playoff Round First Leg Final score and result:- Hearts vs Tottenham 0-5 ( Van der Vaart, [.

The news of Spurs sudden injury crisis in midfield may have wider implications than mere selection for tomorrow's tie with Hearts.

Daniel Levy's promised period of streamlining has been slow to say the least but after Robbie Keane left the club earlier this week, it had been hoped that more would follow.

The return of European football. Scotland expects.
The worst, usually.
Dundee United have already shuffled off, cramming a qualifying defeat into the SPL's blink-and-you'll-miss-it summer holiday.
Three survive. Rangers reward for not winning their Champions League qualifier is a shot at the Europa League if they can negotiate past Slovenia's NK Maribor in the play off round.

The return of European football. Scotland expects.
The worst, usually.
Dundee United have already shuffled off, cramming a qualifying defeat into the SPL's blink-and-you'll-miss-it summer holiday.
Three survive. Rangers reward for not winning their Champions League qualifier is a shot at the Europa League if they can negotiate past Slovenia's NK Maribor in the play off round.

Stop me if you've heard this one before but it seems that Spurs have defensive problems ahead of the away leg against Hearts on Thursday night and the start of our premiership season.

William Gallas is struggling with the injury that kept him out of Tottenham's entire pre-season campaign while club captain Ledley King is approaching what for him is match fitness and has an outside chance of making it for the game with Manchester United.

Chelsea and Sunderland march proudly over the border to ensure that Rangers and Hibs are otherwise occupied as this stuttering SPL start continues.
Rangers are out of the Champions League, a result that also marked Madjid Bougherra's last game for the club.
Hearts lost Jim Jefferies, gained Paulo Sergio, gambolled through their European tie and landed a Europa League play-off with the Hotspurs of Tottenham.

It seems we're running out of ways to describe Vladimir Romanov's unpredictability.
Apparently from nowhere came the news that Jim Jefferies was to be relieved of his position as manager. Shock, gnashing of teeth and frank changes of opinion followed.
Jefferies' assistant Billy Brown was sacked.

A quiet June for me on the blogging front.
Everyone needs a break. Expecially if they spend too much time thinking about, writing about and watching Scottish football.
What have I missed?
A Romanov rant, this one wrapped up in an apparent defence of a convicted sex offender, followed by Hearts applying the handbrake and deciding on the course of action that most expected them to follow in the first place.

"It could be a stoater."
That's how I signed off my preview of tonight's Hearts v Celtic game.
We got a rather one sided 3-0 win for Celtic. We got two red cards as the referee stuck rigidly to the letter of the law.
And, above it all, we got someone from a home section of Tynecastle trying to attack Neil Lennon.

The attacking football, the flair game, that Hibs fans are said to hold so dear is oft maligned and often frustrates those managers tasked with satisfying the demands of supporters.
That footballing ideal, which perhaps exists more in theory than in practicality, owes itself to two gilded periods.

Hibernian 0-4 Heart of Midlothian, April 2006 Your boys took one hell of a beating is a post from: Just Football

by Joel Sked

Sometimes, just sometimes supporting your team can be exhilarating, enjoyable, everything you ever wanted rolled into one. In a word. Perfect.

Sunday the 2nd of April 2006 was one of those days.

Time is, once again, my enemy this Sunday morning. A quick look, then, at today's games. Including the big one at Pittodrie.
Odd to see Rangers and Celtic meet so early in the cup, giving us our second of three Old Firm games before 2011 is two months old.
A look at the league table shows Rangers playing catch-up but their games in hand suggest the situation is far from desperate.

Just two SPL games this afternoon with four clubs involved in the league cup semi-finals and Dundee United playing Hibs tomorrow.
What, I ask, is the point of playing the League Cup semi-finals at the weekend, at the same time as SPL games?
Seems a bit strange.
Anyhows, to the action:
Hamilton v KilmarnockHamilton are still rooted to the bottom of the table.

Five games, five traditional kick off times.
This is what Neil Doncaster's ten team SPL could look like if everything is as bad as feared and Sky and ESPN run screaming for the hills.
Celtic v Aberdeen
The last time Aberdeen visited Celtic they were sent home humiliated and robbed of their dignity.

Dearie me. Just when you thought we'd all recovered our equilibrium along comes another furore, threatening to turn into a Scottish football civil war.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon has been hit with a six match ban for losing the rag at Tynecastle after his team were denied what appeared to be a fairly blatant penalty and Joe Ledley was sent off in a 2-0 defeat to Hearts.

Dearie me. Just when you thought we'd all recovered our equilibrium along comes another furore, threatening to turn into a Scottish football civil war.
Celtic manager Neil Lennon has been hit with a six match ban for losing the rag at Tynecastle after his team were denied what appeared to be a fairly blatant penalty and Joe Ledley was sent off in a 2-0 defeat to Hearts.