Last SPL UEFA Cup spot given

By: Ian Rose | May 20th, 2007

Well, that does it for the 2006-2007 SPL season. Over the next week or so, I’ll be looking back at the highs and lows of the season, but for now, let’s look at this weekend. It’s always nice to have something to play for in the last weekend of a season, and Aberdeen and Hearts went into this past one with one big prize: the final Scottish bid for the UEFA Cup, which goes to third place in the league. Dunfermline already claimed the other bid by reaching the Scottish Cup final this coming Saturday (more on that in another post soon). All the Dons had to do was beat Rangers, something they’ve had issues with all year, or have Hearts lose to Kilmarnock. The way it ended up, both happened. A determined Aberdeen side played Rangers to 2-0 at home, launching the Dons support into an explosion of European qualification bliss. Meanwhile, not that it mattered much, but Killie were playing terrible hosts to Hearts, beating them 1-0 on a late Steven Naismith penalty.

For Aberdeen, it’s the culmination of a great season, one in which they challenged for a top-two finish and beat out both of the Edinburgh sides, Hibs and Hearts, both of which are far better funded. For Hearts, this was the last nail in the casket of a season they will try desperately to forget. One year ago, Hearts were on top of the world, having finished second in the league, beating out Rangers, and were headed to the Champions League. Now, after a series of gaffes from their completely mental owner Vlad Romanov which led to both UEFA investigation and the loss of several key players, they finished this season in fourth, and out of all European competition for next year. They will try to rebuild, but Romanov’s threatening and intimidating tactics with his players, as well as his willingness to replace them with second-rate Lithuanian imports at the drop of a hat, is going to make recruiting a bit dicey. A year ago, I really believed Hearts could win the SPL sometime in the next few years. Now, no way. No how.

Good on you, Dons - good luck in Europe.