Hearts' hastily-assembled team put the fans in wonderland

Clubs outwith the Old Firm aren't supposed to win the title in this day in age but, after that victory on Saturday, 24 September 2005, Hearts had amassed 24 points from a possible 24 to move 11 clear of the fifth-place Ibrox side and five ahead of Gordon Strachan's Celtic, who sat in second. When Roman Bednar's goal secured victory over the defending champions, Hearts were acclaimed by all and sundry as genuine title contenders and there was no chance of tempering the euphoria.

In what can only be described as the most perfect accident, Vladimir Romanov, embarking on his first full season in power, and Burley, who was appointed manager a month before the first league game at Kilmarnock, had combined to transform a small pile of rubble into a wrecking ball. The "Sold Out" signs went up outside the ground as Hearts plundered points and goals at an equally relentless rate. All the while Gorgie Road and far beyond reverberated to the tune of La donna e mobile, with well-oiled Jambos keen to let the rest of the world know that this was their time. "Vla-di-mir Ro-man-ov", "Ju-li-en Bre-lli-ay", or "We Are Unbeatable". Take your pick. They were all given countless airings of a Saturday night after Hearts had swatted aside their latest helpless opponent.

Meanwhile, players who had probably never heard of Hearts just a few months previously were basking in their new-found celebrity status as the likes of Bednar, Brellier, Rudi Skacel and Edgaras Jankauskas would find themselves mobbed by jubilant Jambos wherever they went. It was a case of milk this victory for all it's worth and then start the countdown to next weekend's demolition job.

Skacel, who recently returned to Tynecastle in a move which highlights just how much has changed since those halcyon days, was the iconic figure, as his record of scoring in each of his first seven league games set the tone. Paul Hartley pulled the strings to sensational effect in midfield, while the Eastern European strike force of Bednar and Jankauskas battered the opposition into submission.

Brellier, or 'Le Juge', provided the stability in midfield, while a rock-solid back four of Robbie Neilson, Takis Fyssas, Andy Webster and captain Steven Pressley barely gave rival forwards a sniff, keeping five clean sheets in the first eight games. Meanwhile, Craig Gordon, the goalkeeper, was in imperious form with his breathtaking late save in the 2-1 win at home to Motherwell particularly memorable. That lot were ably assisted by supporting acts such as Saulius Mikoliunas, Sammy Cammazola, Michal Pospisil and Stephen Simmons, while Neil MacFarlane, Calum Elliot, Lee Wallace, Jamie McAllister and Deividas Cesnauskis could also claim to have played their part in one of the most astonishing periods in Hearts' long history.

Those were the days when even the chief executive was revered, as Fireworks Phil (Anderton) was busy cranking up excitement levels with his fresh ideas and explosive pre-match displays. Hard to believe that, just two months before that lunchtime victory over Rangers, Hearts had gone to Ireland in pre-season with barely a dozen first-team players to their name and Graeme Weir cast as the senior striker. "When we first came back for pre-season, we only had about 12 full-time pros and the rest of the squad was made up of youngsters," says Neilson, the right back, now of Leicester City. "But just out of nowhere, we brought in a lot of quality players and did well in pre-season against Middlesbrough and Hull. It wasn't until the season actually started that I realised we had something special. It was probably after our third game when we won 3-0 up at Dundee United, I thought 'hang on a minute, we've got a right decent team here'."

Neilson recalls the momentum that built up as Burley's positive management style, coupled with an incredible wave of optimism that had built up among supporters, helped the players generate a belief that they really could pull off the unthinkable and break the Old Firm stranglehold on the SPL title.

"After the first few wins, we felt unbeatable - it was a great feeling," he said. "We had a good defence and boys who could score goals - we went into every game thinking we were going to win quite convincingly and it reached the point where you were thinking 'hang on, we've got a chance of winning the league' - it was great. George did a great job, he was very positive.

"His team talks were all about us and what we could do to the opposition as opposed to what they could do to us. I remember at one point early in the season, George asked us in the dressing room what our ambitions were for the season and where he thought we could finish. It was big Elvis who stood up and said we want to finish first and that set the tone early on."

When Webster puffed on an imaginary cigar after scoring in the 4-1 rout of Livingston - a match which Romanov travelled to on a Hearts supporters' bus and then watched from the away end at Almondvale - it signified just how comfortable the players were finding life as the SPL's front-runners.

Skacel, ever the showman, provided further evidence of the confidence levels coursing through this Hearts team when he ran down the seconds against Rangers by toying with an exasperated Barry Ferguson down in the corner between the main stand and the Gorgie Road End. For a spell, there was simply no stopping the maroon juggernaut. "I looked about the team and thought there is no-one else from any other team in the league I'd rather be playing with than these guys I was surrounded by," continues Neilson. "I had Craig behind me, Steven Pressley and Andy Webster beside me, Brellier and Hartley in midfield and two guys up front who were doing real damage, just quality players all over the place. It was just an amazing dressing-room to be part of. We were expecting to win every game and so were the fans.

"The one I remember in particular was that game at Tannadice where we took about 6,000 fans - it was just unbelievable. That enthusiasm definitely rubbed off on the players and helped us get results. That small period of the season was undoubtedly one of the highlights of my career, to feel you had a real chance of winning the league with Hearts." Following the Rangers game, Hearts would extend their unbeaten start with draws away to Falkirk and Celtic before one of the most inexplicable boardroom decisions in the history of Scottish football punctured the team's air of invincibility as Burley was axed.

As Rangers prepare to return to Tynecastle this weekend as joint leaders and already eight points clear of third-place Motherwell, the prospect of any club outwith the Old Firm winning the league now looks as distant ever. With that in mind, any Jambos in need of an autumnal boost would be advised to take a few moments to reminisce over that short but sensational period when 'Believe' was the buzzword and Hearts had the established order well and truly shaken up.

Burley's team of Hearts unknowns had something special

JOURNALIST Mark Donaldson, who wrote a book about the 2005-06 season, was astonished at how quickly things took off for George Burley and reckons Hearts' ability to overpower opponents early on in matches was key to their success.

Donaldson, the author of 'Believe' and a boyhood Hearts supporter, said: "I've been watching Hearts as a fan since 1985 and as a member of the media since 1995, and I had never seen anything like it. It all kind of started in the pre-season friendly against Middlesbrough when it was free entry for all and within about ten minutes folk were like 'who are these guys?' because the likes of Bednar and Pospisil were running the show. It wasn't exactly a case of waifs and strays, but it was certainly a collection of players who most people in Scotland hadn't heard of. I remember when we went a goal down against Kilmarnock on the opening day I thought 'this is going to be a long hard season' but then I noticed some sort of resilience.

"It was probably the game against Dundee United or Aberdeen game you thought 'wait a minute that's three or four games in a row we've won and Skacel's scored in them all - something special's happening here.' The eighth game against Rangers was perceived as their first genuine test. Normally, when Rangers come to Tynecastle, there's more hope than expectation, but there was a real belief that day that Hearts would win the game. Usually when you score first against Rangers it can be like waving a red rag to a bull but, after Bednar scored, I never felt that Rangers could come back from it. One of the things that maybe worked in Hearts' favour was the fact their opponents knew nothing about this new group of players they had brought in, and maybe if Burley had stayed longer teams might have sussed out how to stop them playing."

MACKAY WAS SIMPLY LOVIN' IT

GARY MACKAY was convinced Hearts were going to win the league as George Burley's swashbuckling side produced the best football he has ever witnessed at Tynecastle.

Mackay, Hearts' record appearance holder, believes the momentum the team had in the early part of the 2005-06 season would have been almost unstoppable had the manager been allowed to continue in the job.

He said: "I didn't have a belief they could challenge for the title - I had a belief we could win the league, absolutely no doubt. It was an amazing feeling. We saw football played in an exhilarating manner - it was as fine a point as you could reach and was wonderful to watch. It was a group of galvanised players that George Burley had brought together and what he got out of them was just magnificent.

"Would it have been sustainable? In my opinion, it would have been harder to disrupt that momentum than to sustain it. When we turned up at games, it wasn't a case of if you were going to win, it was a case of how many. When that kind of momentum goes through any team, it's very hard to break it.

"There would have been injuries and suspensions, but the longer that kind of momentum builds, the more confidence would have grown. It was a period in the history of the football club that I will never forget - a truly magnificent time, which was just far too short-lived for us all."