Ex-Hearts defender Gary wants old club to clinch third with bit to spare

GARY NAYSMITH helped Hearts to two third-place finishes in his three-and-a-half seasons as a first-team regular at Hearts.

There was the memorable 1997/98 season when third was secured by the end of March with six games to spare as Jim Jefferies' side fell just short in their brave bid for the title. Two seasons later things were a lot less straightforward as Hearts had to beat Hibs on the last day to earn best-of-the-rest status despite being five points clear of Motherwell with seven games to play.

As recently as two months ago it looked like the current crop were set to tie up third in a similarly sure-footed manner to the class of '98. After beating Dundee United 2-1 at Tynecastle on February 19, Hearts were 18 points clear of then-fourth-place Kilmarnock and a commanding 25 ahead of Dundee United, albeit the Arabs had four games in hand. However, Hearts' indifferent form of late coupled with a remarkable surge from United, which has seen them close the gap to eight points with six to play, means there is a danger the Edinburgh side will have to stumble over the line the way they did in 2000.

Naysmith recalls the swashbuckling '98 season with enormous pride and enthusiasm, but admits the more underwhelming nature of the Millennium campaign made so little of an impression on him that he can't even remember it. Understandably, he's hoping his old club can try and end a season which once promised so much with a bit of style instead of allowing it to become remembered as the year they almost blew an unassailable lead.

"To be honest, I can't even remember that season when we qualified for Europe on the last day of the season," said Naysmith, who is currently aiding Huddersfield Town's bid for promotion to the Championship. "Needless to say it would be far better if Hearts can get third place tied up in the next few weeks. The last thing they want is a last-day shootout against United to qualify for Europe - I think Jim Jefferies would be disappointed if they don't get it tied up a good few games before the end of the season. Even if they do secure third with games to spare, Jim won't allow the team to slacken off in the last few games. That's not the way him and Billy Brown work. They'll want to finish with as many points as possible and make sure the team are carrying a bit of momentum into next season. They still have the Old Firm to play a couple of times so he'll want to get results against them because those games are the ones where you can see how far you've come.

"I wouldn't say Hearts are making heavy weather of getting third because that run they were on in the middle part of the season was incredible and was always going to be hard to maintain. It's not a great surprise to me that they've had a few draws and the odd defeat in the last few months. It's been made to look a bit worse for Hearts because Dundee United have been winning all their games and closing the gap so quickly, but I fully expect Hearts to get third sooner or later."

Naysmith insists his old club have nothing to be ashamed of in terms of their push for a top-two finish petering out. After all, it happened to the side he was part of in '98 when they ran out of steam in the closing weeks of the season. "I think we got a bit closer in '98, but there were certainly people asking the question of whether the current Hearts team could split the Old Firm when they were on that amazing run earlier in the season," he acknowledged. "It's a tough thing to split the Old Firm, though, and I'd be very surprised if anyone was able to do that any time soon. Realistically at the moment, the best any side outwith the Old Firm can hope for is to finish third and be best of the rest."

Since Naysmith last achieved third place 11 years ago, Hearts have finished in the top three on four occasions. One of those, of course, was in 2006 when they famously finished second, although they were so far ahead of the rest that they had already guaranteed themselves a top-three finish with four games to spare.

Before that, they achieved back-to-back third-place finishes in 2003 and 2004 under Craig Levein. In the first of those seasons they led Kilmarnock by ten points at one stage but still ended up needing to beat Dundee on the last day to make mathematically certain of third. The following season was more straightforward as victory over nearest challengers Dunfermline meant Hearts finished third with two games to spare. In they end they finished 15 points ahead of the Pars. Then two seasons ago, under Csaba Laszlo, Hearts came from behind with a perfectly-timed run to secure third with victory over Dundee United on the second-last day of the season.

So there is clearly more than one way to skin a cat. However they do it - assuming they do, of course - Hearts will have the prospect of European football to look forward to next season. Loanhead boy Naysmith relished the chance to represent the team he grew up supporting on the continent and feels memorable ties against the likes of Real Mallorca and Stuttgart were beneficial to his emergence as the best Scottish left-back of the last decade. As a result he believes the current Hearts players - particularly the youngsters - shouldn't underestimate the value of getting some European football under their belts.

"My first European tie was in a Cup Winners' Cup preliminary tie against an Estonian team (Lantana] but I'll always remember my first big European trip which was against Real Mallorca. I was only 19, so being abroad with your team was a whole new experience. I really enjoyed it. Because it was in Majorca it was seen as the dream draw for the Hearts fans and loads of them made the trip - I think my sister and my wife were actually there. It was a really special night because of the atmosphere the Hearts fans created in the ground. The biggest thing about that night was the shenanigans with the size of the goals because we didn't know if the game was going to get played. There was a massive furore but eventually it went ahead and we drew 1-1. We were pushing for the second goal that would have put us through on away goals. They got to the final of the Cup Winners' Cup that year but we pushed them quite close. We lost the tie in the home leg when we got beat 1-0.

"Another one that sticks in my mind was when I actually travelled to Belgrade with the team in 1996 for the 0-0 draw against Red Star just before I broke into the first team. That was a real eye-opener. It wasn't exactly the glamour tie everyone wanted but the atmosphere over there was just unbelievable. For a 17-year-old sitting in the stand listening to the noise they made, it was a real experience.

"The home game against Stuttgart (in 2000] was also a really special night. We won 3-2 and the place was rocking but we went out on away goals. Gordan Petric missed a really good chance to put us through. It's good to play against the big teams but sometimes you just want an easier draw so you have a chance of progressing. Playing in these big European games as well as the less-glamorous preliminary matches at such a young age was a really good learning curve for me and I'm sure it will be the same for some of the younger Hearts players next season if they get third place tied up."