2016–17 Heart of Midlothian F.C. season explained

Club:	Heart of Midlothian
Season:	2016–17
Chairman:	Ann Budge^[1]
Manager:	Robbie Neilson (Until 3 December 2016) Ian Cathro (From 5 December 2016)
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Stadium:	Tynecastle Stadium
League:	Premiership
League Result:	5th
Cup1:	Scottish Cup
Cup1 Result:	Fifth round (lost to Hibernian)
Cup2:	League Cup
Cup2 Result:	Second round (lost to St Johnstone)
Cup3:	Europa League
Cup3 Result:	Second qualifying round (lost to Birkirkara)
League Topscorer:	Jamie Walker (12)
Season Topscorer:	Jamie Walker (15)
Highest Attendance:	16,971 vs Hibernian Scottish Cup fifth round 12 February 2017
Lowest Attendance:	10,740 vs Raith Rovers Scottish Cup fourth round replay 25 January 2017
Average Attendance:	16,327
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Leftarm1:	800000
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Rightarm1:	800000
Shorts1:	FFFFFF
Socks1:	800000
Pattern La2:	_heart1617a
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Prevseason:	2015–16
Nextseason:	2017–18

The 2016–17 season is the 136th season of competitive football by Heart of Midlothian F.C. with the team participating in the Scottish Premiership.

The club begins its second consecutive season in the top tier of Scottish football, having been promoted from the Scottish Championship at the end of the 2014–15 season.^[2] Hearts played just one season in the Scottish Championship^[3] after relegation from the Scottish Premiership at the end of the 2013–14 season.^[4] Hearts also competed in the Scottish Cup, Scottish League Cup, and the UEFA Europa League.^{[5] [6]}

Summary

Management

Hearts started the Season with Robbie Neilson at the helm having been promoted to Head Coach for the 2014–15 season.^[7] On 2 December 2016, Robbie Neilson joined English Football League One side MK Dons^[8] along with assistant manager Stevie Crawford.^[9] With 2 years remaining on his contract^[10] compensation was paid to Hearts.^[11] For that following weekend's fixture against Ross County, Jon Daly and Andy Kirk took charge, overseeing a 2–2 draw.^{[12] [13]} On 5 December, Ian Cathro was named as Hearts' new manager.^[14] Although taking the position with no prior playing^[15] or management experience,^[16] Cathro was a coach at Rio Ave, Valencia and Newcastle United.^[17] He was joined by Northern Ireland assistant manager Austin MacPhee.^[18]

Results & fixtures

Scottish Cup

See main article: article and 2016–17 Scottish Cup.

League Cup

See main article: article and 2016–17 Scottish League Cup.

UEFA Europa League

See main article: article and 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.

Qualifying rounds

See main article: article and 2016–17 UEFA Europa League qualifying phase and play-off round.

First team player statistics

Captains

No	Pos	Name	Country	No of games	Notes
5	DF	Öztürk^[19] ^[20]		5	Captain
6	MF	Kitchen^[21]		25	Captain
7	MF	Walker		1	Vice-captain
15		MF	Cowie^[22]		16	Vice-captain Squad information During the 2016–17 season, Hearts have used thirty-three players in competitive games. The table below includes all players registered with the SPFL as part of Hearts squad for 2016–17 season. They may not have made an appearance. Last updated 23 May 2017^[23] Number Position Nation Name Totals Premiership Europa League League Cup Scottish Cup Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Players away from Heart of Midlothian on loan: Players who appeared for Heart of Midlothian no longer at the club:Appearances (starts and substitute appearances) and goals include those in Scottish Premiership, Europa League, League Cup and the Scottish Cup. Disciplinary record Last updated 23 May 2017 Number Nation Position Name Premiership Europa League League Cup Scottish Cup Total width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" width=60 style="background: #FF8888" width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" width=60 style="background: #FF8888" width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" width=60 style="background: #FF8888" width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" width=60 style="background: #FF8888" width=60 style="background: #FFEE99" width=60 style="background: #FF8888" 2 DF Callum Paterson 5 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 3 DF Faycal Rherras 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 DF Igor Rossi 6 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 0 4 DF Alexandros Tziolis 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 DF Alim Öztürk 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 6 MF Perry Kitchen 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 7 MF Jamie Walker 8 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 10 1 8 DF Prince Buaben 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 10 MF Arnaud Djoum 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 11 MF Sam Nicholson 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 12 DF Tasos Avlonitis 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 14 DF John Souttar 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 15 MF Don Cowie 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 18 FW Conor Sammon 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 19 MF Krystian Nowak 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 20 FW Bjørn Johnsen 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 23 FW Robbie Muirhead 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 24 DF Liam Smith 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 27 DF Andraz Struna 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 32 FW Tony Watt 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 77 FW Esmaël Gonçalves 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 4 1 88 MF Malaury Martin 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 Goal Scorers (Played in Italics have since left club)Last updated 23 May 2017 Place Nation Position Number Name Premiership Europa League League Cup Scottish Cup Total 1 MF 7 Jamie Walker 12 0 1 2 15 2 DF 2 Callum Paterson 8 1 1 0 10 3 FW 77 Esmaël Gonçalves 7 0 0 1 8 4 MF 10 Arnaud Djoum 6 0 0 0 6 FW 20 Bjørn Johnsen 5 0 0 1 6 5 MF 15 Don Cowie 3 0 0 0 3 6 DF 4 Igor Rossi 0 2 0 0 2 MF 8 Prince Buaben 1 1 0 0 2 MF 11 Sam Nicholson 2 0 0 0 2 FW 18 Conor Sammon 1 1 0 0 2 FW 23 Robbie Muirhead 2 0 0 0 2 FW 88 Malaury Martin 1 0 0 1 2 7 DF 3 Faycal Rherras 1 0 0 0 1 FW 4 Alexandros Tziolis 1 0 0 0 1 DF 5 Alim Öztürk 0 1 0 0 1 DF 19 Krystian Nowak 1 0 0 0 1 DF 27 Andraz Struna 1 0 0 0 1 FW 30 Rory Currie 0 0 0 1 1 FW 32 Tony Watt 1 0 0 0 1 Clean sheets Last updated 23 May 2017 Name Games Premiership Europa League League Cup Scottish Cup Total 1 GK Jack Hamilton 44 10 1 0 1 12 2 GK Viktor Noring 3 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 45 10 1 0 1 12 Team statistics Management statistics Last updated on 23 May 2017 Club Club staff As of 23 May 2017^[24] ^[25] Name Role Head coach Assistant head coach Karen Gibson Physio Goalkeeping Coach Boardroom Name Role^[26] Ann Budge Owner, CEO and Chairwomen Craig Levein Director of Football Eric Hogg Non-Executive Director Donald Cumming Non-Executive Director Kevin Windram Non-Executive Director Transfers See main article: article, List of Scottish football transfers summer 2016 and List of Scottish football transfers winter 2016-17. In Date Position Nationality Name From Fee 13 June 2016 FW Conor Sammon Derby County Free^[27] 13 June 2016 FW Robbie Muirhead Dundee United Free^[28] 13 June 2016 DF Faycal Rherras Sint-Truidense Free 16 June 2016 GK Paul Gallacher Partick Thistle Free^[29] 8 July 2016 GK Viktor Noring Lyngby BK Undisclosed ^[30] 22 July 2016 FW Bjørn Johnsen Litex Lovech Undisclosed ^[31] 8 August 2016 DF Krystian Nowak Podbeskidzie Free^[32] 9 January 2017 DF Aaron Hughes Kerala Blasters Free^[33] 9 January 2017 DF Lennard Sowah Hamilton Free 17 January 2017 MF Malaury Martin Lillestrøm SK Free^[34] 18 January 2017 DF Andraž Struna Free Agent Free^[35] 30 January 2017 DF Alexandros Tziolis PAOK FC Free^[36] 30 January 2017 DF Tasos Avlonitis Free Agent Free 30 January 2017 FW Esmaël Gonçalves Anorthosis £170,000 Out Date Position Nationality Name To Fee 15 June 2016 GK Neil Alexander Aberdeen Undisclosed^[37] 15 June 2016 MF Morgaro Gomis Kelantan Undisclosed^[38] 4 January 2017 FW Juanma V-Varen Nagasaki Undisclosed^[39] 8 January 2017 DF Alim Öztürk Boluspor Undisclosed^[40] 13 January 2017 DF Igor Rossi Faisaly Undisclosed^[41] 19 January 2017 FW Robbie Muirhead MK Dons Undisclosed^[42] Loans in Date from Date to Position Nationality Name From 20 July 2016 9 January 2017^[43] FW Tony Watt Charlton Athletic 28 January 2017 31 May 2017^[44] MF Loans out Date from Date to Position Nationality Name To 13 June 2016 1 May 2017^[45] FW Gavin Reilly Dunfermline Athletic 5 July 2016 10 May 2017^[46] ^[47] DF Jordan McGhee Middlesbrough 11 July 2016 29 May 2017^[48] MF Billy King Inverness CT 27 July 2016 15 January 2017^[49] FW Nikolay Todorov Cowdenbeath 31 August 2016 3 January 2017^[50] FW Juanma UCAM Murcia 24 September 2016 31 October 2016^[51] DF Liam Smith Raith Rovers 28 October 2016 15 January 2017^[52] MF Angus Beith Stirling Albion 18 November 2016 24 December 2016^[53] FW Robbie Buchanan Brechin City 23 January 2017 7 May 2017^[54] FW Nikolay Todorov Livingston 31 January 2017 21 May 2017^[55] FW Robbie Buchanan Cowdenbeath 31 January 2017 31 May 2017^[56] FW Conor Sammon Kilmarnock 30 March 2017 15 May 2017^[57] FW Dylan Bikey Stirling Albion See also List of Heart of Midlothian F.C. seasons References

Notes and References

1. Web site: Ann Budge to start at Tynecastle on Monday . . bbc.co.uk/sport . 9 May 2014 . 24 March 2015.
2. Web site: Hearts celebrate securing Championship title . . bbc.co.uk/sport . 22 March 2015 . 24 March 2015.
3. Web site: Hearts win the Scottish Championship . . 22 March 2015 . 24 March 2015.
4. News: Partick Thistle 2-4 Heart of Midlothian. BBC Sport.
5. Web site: Reaching Europa League group stage would '˜transform' Hearts.
6. Web site: Hearts boss Robbie Neilson looking to strengthen Tynecastle side before Europa League campaign.
7. Web site: Craig Levein lands Hearts role as boss Gary Locke exits . BBC Sport . BBC . 12 May 2014 . 12 May 2014 . Brian . McLauchlin.
8. Web site: Hearts head coach completes MK Dons move . . bbc.co.uk/sport . 2 December 2016 . 4 December 2016.
9. Web site: Robbie Neilson finally departs Hearts as he is appointed MK Dons boss . . dailyrecord.co.uk . 2 December 2016 . 4 December 2016.
10. Web site: Robbie Neilson signs new contract to stay as Hearts head coach until 2018. 26 February 2016. Sky Sports. skysports.com. 4 December 2016.
11. Web site: Hearts agree compensation terms with MK Dons over head coach Robbie Neilson . . skysports.com . 1 December 2016 . 4 December 2016.
12. Web site: Hearts director of football Craig Levein offers no hint on the club's next boss . . skysports.com . 2 December 2016 . 4 December 2016.
13. Web site: Jamie Walker's stoppage-time penalty was saved as Hearts lost second place in the Premiership . . bbc.co.uk/sport . 3 December 2016 . 4 December 2016.
14. Web site: Hearts appoint Ian Cathro as their new head coach . . 5 December 2016 .
15. Web site: Who are the leading candidates to become next Hearts boss? . . scotsman.com . 29 November 2016 . 4 February 2017.
16. Web site: Why appointment of Ian Cathro at Hearts has inadvertently condemned all humans to extinction . . telegraph.co.uk/ . 7 December 2016 . 4 February 2017.
17. Web site: Head coach Ian Cathro says there are 'no limits' . . bbc.co.uk/sport . 6 December 2016 . 4 February 2017.
18. Web site: Hearts appoint Austin MacPhee to assist head coach Ian Cathro . . stv.tv/sport . 6 December 2016 . 4 February 2017 . 20 December 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20161220113009/https://stv.tv/sport/football/1374914-hearts-appoint-austin-macphee-to-assist-head-coach-ian-cathro/ . dead .
19. Web site: Alim Ozturk succeeds Danny Wilson as club captain . . bbc.co.uk/sport . 22 July 2015 . 22 July 2015.
20. Web site: Alim Named Captain . . heartsfc.co.uk . 22 July 2015 . 22 July 2015.
21. Web site: Hearts appoint Perry Kitchen as club captain as he becomes first American to take the armband at Tynecastle . . dailyrecord.co.uk . 21 September 2016 . 6 February 2017.
22. Web site: Hearts were narrowly beaten by Celtic in the opening game of the 2016/17 Ladbrokes Premiership season. . . heartsfc.co.uk. 7 August 2016 . 6 February 2017.
23. Web site: Soccerbase Hearts Squad Stats 2016/17 . 30 January 2017.
24. Web site: Heart of Midlothian Team. www.heartsfc.co.uk. en. 2017-02-12.
25. Web site: Heart of Midlothian Club. www.heartsfc.co.uk. en. 2017-02-12.
26. Web site: Heart of Midlothian Club . www.heartsfc.co.uk.
27. Web site: Hearts: Derby County's Conor Sammon agrees to Tynecastle switch . BBC Sport . Brian . McLauchlin . BBC . 5 June 2016 . 13 June 2016.
28. Web site: Robbie Muirhead: Hearts sign forward on one-year deal . BBC Sport . Brian . McLauchlin . BBC . 13 June 2016 . 13 June 2016.
29. Web site: Paul Gallacher joins Hearts on player-coach contract . Sky Sports . Sky . 16 June 2016 . 16 June 2016.
30. Web site: Goalkeeper Noring joins Hearts . SPFL . 8 July 2016 . 9 July 2016.
31. Web site: JOHNSEN JOINS JAMBOS . Heart of Midlothian . 22 July 2016 . 22 July 2016.
32. Web site: Hearts sign up Polish defender Krystian Nowak . BBC Sport . 9 August 2016 . 10 September 2020.
33. Web site: Aaron Hughes: Hearts sign Northern Ireland defender & Lennard Sowah . BBC Sport . 9 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
34. Web site: Malaury Martin: Hearts sign French former Middlesbrough midfielder . BBC Sport . 17 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
35. Web site: Hearts sign Slovenian defender Andraz Struna . BBC Sport . 18 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
36. Web site: Hearts sign Esmael Goncalves, Alexandros Tziolis and Anastasios Avlonitis . BBC Sport . 30 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
37. Web site: Joe Lewis, Neil Alexander and Callum Morris join Aberdeen . BBC Sport . BBC . 16 June 2016 . 16 June 2016.
38. Web site: Gomis leaves Hearts to join Malaysian team, Kelantan . Edinburgh News. 11 July 2016 . 12 July 2016.
39. Web site: Juanma completes move from Hearts to Japan . Edinburgh News. 12 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
40. Web site: Alim Ozturk leaves Hearts for Turkish club Boluspor . Edinburgh News. 8 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
41. Web site: Igor Rossi: Hearts defender leaves for Saudi Arabian club Al-Faisaly Harmah . BBC Sport. 14 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
42. Web site: Muirhead makes MK1 move . MK Dons. 19 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
43. Web site: Tony Watt: Hearts sign former Celtic striker on season-long loan . BBC Sport. 20 July 2016 . 10 September 2020.
44. Web site: Choulay signs on loan . BBC Sport. 28 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
45. Web site: Gavin Reilly joins Dunfermline . Dunfermline Athletic FC . 13 June 2016 . 13 June 2016.
46. News: Hearts: McGhee out to Boro, Noring in?. BBC Sport.
47. Web site: Boro Take Scotland U21 Captain On Season Long Loan . Middlesbrough FC . 5 July 2016 . 5 July 2016.
48. Web site: Hearts' Billy King to join Inverness CT on loan . The Scotsman . Johnston Publishing Ltd . 11 July 2016 . 11 July 2016.
49. News: Alasdair . Mackenzie . Hearts youngster Nikolay Todorov joins Cowdenbeath on six-month loan . The Herald (Glasgow) . 27 July 2016 . 5 July 2018.
50. Web site: Juanma Delgado, gol para el UCAM Murcia. Juanma Delgado, goal for UCAM Murcia. UCAM Murcia. es. 31 August 2016. 10 September 2020. 11 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160911220957/http://www.ucamdeportes.com/ucamcf/news/juanma-delgado-gol-para-el-ucam-murcia. dead.
51. Web site: Liam Smith Arrives on Emergency Loan. Raith Rovers. 24 September 2016. 10 September 2020.
52. Web site: Beith joins Binos on loan . spfl.co.uk . Scottish Professional Football League . 28 October 2016 . 30 October 2016.
53. Web site: Brechin announce emergency loan signing . Brechin Advertiser . Johnston Publishing Ltd . 18 November 2016 . 18 November 2016.
54. Web site: Change of Heart for Nikolay Todorov . Brechin Advertiser . Livingston FC . 23 January 2017 . 10 September 2020.
55. Web site: Buchanan's Blue Brazil move. Heart of Midlothian. www.heartsfc.co.uk. en. 2017-01-31.
56. Web site: Hearts striker Conor Sammon joins Kilmarnock in loan deal. Edinburgh Evening News. edinburghnews.scotsman.com. en. 2017-01-31.
57. Web site: Bikey's back! . Stirling Albion FC . 31 March 2017 . 31 March 2017.