It is the football fan's Christmas Eve, the day before the start of the league season in the Scottish Premiership. Heart of Midlothian begin their campaign with a home clash against Rangers in front of the Sky Sports cameras on Saturday afternoon.

It is the season of misplaced optimism and outright delusion. As it should be every single year. This, after all, is the only weekend where every team is in the same position and no one knows what or how it is going to unfold over the next 10 months.

Predictions are being made and bets placed. We asked our writers and contributors for their own predictions. Let's see what they came up with.

Joel Sked

League finish: 3rd - The squad has greater depth and healthier competition with plenty of continuity. The majority of the players have had over a year working under Steven Naismith now and it is very different to 12 months ago when it took longer to bring reinforcements. That should prevent a similar slow start. Yes, there is Europe to deal with but with the mixture of the team evolving and not being able to see a team capable of making up the gap from last season... consecutive third-place finishes for the first time in 20 years.

Cup performances: Not sure why I asked this due to not knowing what sort of draws the team will get in either competition. However, due to European involvement, the long wait for League Cup success will carry on for another year at least.

European performance: The Conference League knockout play-off round - Due to the change in the format of the tournament there is a great chance for the team to qualify for the knockout stages after Christmas. That is hugely exciting. 

Player of the season: Kenneth Vargas - Lawrence Shankland is, of course, the obvious answer. However, across the last two seasons, he has set the bar extremely high for himself. The expectation will reflect that. I think Vargas is primed for an influential campaign, there is real excitement around him and fans love him which stands him in good stead for awards.

Signing of the season: Gerald Taylor - The first-half of the friendly with Tottenham Hotspur hadn't finished but I had nailed my Costa Rican colours to the mast regarding the right-back's impact. My only reservation is the optimism that surrounds Taylor. Hearts fans have been stung many times before when getting excited about a signing.

Surprise of the season: Finlay Pollock - The youngster will make a strong impact and put down a claim to be the team's winger on the right. He is highly thought of at Tynecastle Park and it is a big season for him. But he is powerful, quick and athletic. If he stays injury free he'll possibly get the chance to impress.

Bold prediction: Hearts will be approached by English clubs for Naismith but he'll stay put - If Hearts start the season positively and do well in Europe, trigger-happy English clubs will look north. He is a big name, young manager and played in England. However, he won't leave. Yet.

Most looking forward to: Aside from Europe, seeing how Calem Nieuwenhof and Kenneth Vargas kick on after their first season in maroon.

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James Cairney

League finish: 3rd - I can definitely see Hearts closing the gap with Rangers this season, but I think splitting the Old Firm may be a step too far. Steven Naismith’s side enjoyed a good campaign last term and cantered to third, but still finished 17 points shy of Rangers in second. The Ibrox club’s problems on and off the pitch this summer have been well-publicised, and I believe Hearts have had a strong summer transfer window, but I suspect 80+ points will be required to claim second – and that’s asking a lot.

Cup performances: Knocked out by Old Firm - Maybe it will be the final, maybe it will be a last-16 tie. Heck, I could see Hearts winning either cup if they didn’t have to face Celtic or Rangers on the way. Encounters with Glasgow’s big two are often the point where Hearts drop out of the cups, and I don’t expect that to change. Rangers, in particular, seem to be something of a bogey team for Naismith and the two semi-final defeats last season didn’t inspire much confidence that things will be different this time around.

European performance: Conference League knockout round play-offs - Hearts’ European seeding means that a tough draw likely awaits in the play-off round of the Europa League, and I think dropping down to the league phase of the Conference League is on the cards. That could be a blessing in disguise though; I firmly believe that Hearts are capable of competing at that level, and only 12 of the 36 teams involved will be eliminated at the end of the league phase. The top eight progress to the round of 16, and the other 16 face each other in a play-off round before the last 16 begins. Eight or nine points could well be enough to reach this play-off – and I think Hearts are more than capable of achieving that.

Player of the season: Lawrence Shankland - It’s pretty much impossible to overlook the talismanic No.9. His first season in maroon was brilliant, and his second was nothing short of stupendous. And if there’s one man I back to make it a hat-trick, it’s Lawrence Shankland.

Signing of the season: Gerald Taylor - I watched a fair bit of the Costa Rican right-back shortly before he finalised his move to Hearts to see just what he would bring to Tynecastle, and I was left highly impressed. The rapid upward trajectory of the full-back’s career over the past two years is a testament to his ability, and I think his physical and aggressive nature is a good fit for the Scottish Premiership.

Gerald Taylor is tipped to be the signing of the seasonGerald Taylor is tipped to be the signing of the season (Image: Mark Scates - SNS Group)

Surprise of the season: Macaulay Tait - The young midfielder made his breakthrough into the first team last season and I reckon we could see him feature even more regularly this season. Competition for places in the middle of the park is rife – particularly with Yan Dhanda and Blair Spittal already in the building and Malachi Boateng seemingly on the way – but I suspect Tait will hold his own nonetheless, get a good amount of game time, and impress.  

Bold prediction: Hearts will win at Ibrox - Hearts haven’t won a top-flight fixture in Govan since 2012. That is, quite frankly, ridiculous. A victory in Glasgow’s south side is long overdue.

Most looking forward to: The European campaign - We all have a pretty good idea of where Hearts lie within Scottish football, but European competition provides another excellent barometer of just how good Naismith’s side really are. Last season’s play-off exit to PAOK was disappointing, but there is some mitigation here as the team weren’t exactly flying at the start of the campaign. This time, though, Hearts will be playing European football until December at the very earliest. Rustiness is not an excuse – and it will be intriguing to see how Hearts perform over a minimum of eight games, rather than a couple of play-offs played in quick succession.

Scott McIntosh

League Finish: 3rd (but with fewer points than last season) - This will be a period of transition in terms of what Steven Naismith wants to achieve in the long term and as such results will vary. Last season was built on being very disciplined out of possession which led to a great sustained run of results over the winter period, but the team rotation which comes with European participation will take time to master and as such we will be less consistent albeit better to watch. Given the significant turnarounds required at our main rivals, we should be able to still clinch third albeit not at a canter.

Cup performances: It would only be an act of blind faith to say we will better our recent cup showings without seeing what quality and specifically athleticism our new recruits can add to big fixtures on that wide-open Hampden pitch. Gerald Taylor has already shown glimpses of what we need in these games and hopefully, we have done enough to bridge that gap come the business end of the respective cup competitions but at this stage, I can only predict a couple of semi-final trips at best.

European performance: It could be argued that dropping into the Conference League will bring short-term pain and long-term gain, given that only a small percentage of clubs exit the group stage. Frankie Kent should bring a solidity in particular from cross-ball situations that we missed in the absence of Craig Halkett during the 2022/23 campaign and our ability to defend set plays has improved also since that time. Fingers crossed we can do just enough to get over the line and into a last-32 tie after the turn of the year.

Can Shankland win the Player of the Year again? (Image: Mark Scates - SNS Group)

Player of the season: In most cases, solid consistency over moments of sporadic magic can be enough to earn players these accolades come May. With our current squad depth, there are only four players I would feel confident in saying are near to certain starters at the moment (Clark, Kingsley, Kent and Shankland). Shankland is the obvious choice but given the high bar he has set for himself, it will be difficult to match his personal achievements of last season. I will go with Frankie Kent who will continue to build on a very solid first season and hopefully add one or two goals now we have the likes of Dhanda and Spittal on set plays.

Signing of the season: If Gerald Taylor can replicate his 45 minutes against Tottenham over the next few months, then it's fair to say he will be at Tynecastle for a good time, not a long time. Has already displayed physical attributes that will attract suitors from south of the border and is certain to achieve at least cult status with the Gorgie faithful.

Surprise of the season: I found the lack of urgency in identifying and recruiting a direct replacement for Joe Savage this summer very telling and would not be surprised to see further changes.

Bold prediction of the season: Musa Drammeh will establish himself as the third main central striking option at the club.

Most looking forward to: Seeing how many minutes the Gorgie Ultra’s can maintain the Tagawa song for.

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Craig Fowler

League finish: 4th - An unpopular opinion, I know. I say this for three reasons: one, Europe will take its toll; two, Aberdeen are improved and their squad was nowhere near as bad as it looked last season; and three, we haven't finished 'best-of-the-rest' in consecutive years since 2004. Even after the title-challenging season of 2005/06, we finished behind Aberdeen the following year.

Cup performances: We'll make one cup final this season and a cup will be won by a team outside of Glasgow.

European performance: We'll get a much tougher draw than Zurich, and the draw Aberdeen got last year, in the Europa League play-off and lose across two legs. We will, however, get ourselves a famous victory at Tynecastle against a bigger club in the Europa Conference League.

Player of the season: Lawrence Shankland (more on him later).

Signing of the season: Gerald Taylor - His rampaging runs down the flank will make him popular with fans.

Surprise of the season: Kyosuke Tagawa will emerge as the undoubted No.2 striker behind Lawrence Shankland, scoring eight goals across the season.

Bold prediction: Lawrence Shankland will see out his contract at Tynecastle - but then sign for Rangers on a free at the end of the campaign.

Most looking forward to: Travelling away to the continent once again to watch the team in action, drink and sing constantly with fellow Jambos.

Tom Irving

League finish: 3rd - After a disappointing pre-season, some of the Jambo faithful have been wary to predict another high-placed finish in the league this year. Fortunately, a bad pre-season doesn’t always lead to a bad season. Last year we lost to Mansfield Town, Plymouth Argyle, Leeds, and drew with Dunfermline. Not exactly a great pre-season, but we still managed to finish third. I think we have improved both our starting line-up and our squad.

Cup performances: Cup win and semi-final appearance - The luck of the draw means predicting cup performances can be a very hard thing to do. We should be expecting to beat any team outside of the Old Firm but have struggled when coming up against the two big Glasgow sides at Hampden over the past few years. So how can we go one step further? Well, generally you will need to beat at least one of the Old Firm at some point if you want to lift the trophy. If we can face them at home before the semis, then we have a great shot of progressing. We saw a huge improvement in performances against Celtic last year and an encouraging final game of the season against Rangers which should provide confidence in any games against either side this year.

European performance: Conference League last-16 - This prediction could be subject to change as quickly as the 5th of August when Hearts find out who they will face in the Europa League play-off. I think we will be drawn against a very strong side and unfortunately drop down to the Conference League. When using the new competition format to predict how our performance in 2022/23 and Aberdeen’s performance last season would look in 2024/25, it looks highly possible for us to progress through the league stage and into the knockout stage play-off round. From here, we may be able to move on to the Round of 16, but I think we will struggle to make it any further than that.

Player of the season: Lawrence Shankland - I think it will take a lot to knock him off his throne. Others may come close, and the Fans’ Player of The Year and Players’ Player of The Year may be different names, but I could almost guarantee that at least one of them will be Shankland.

Signing of the season: Gerald Taylor - He has everything required to play at the top level. Some Hearts supporters have been slightly underwhelmed that we haven’t made a 'marquee signing' yet, but I believe Gerald Taylor may be just that. If Taylor was playing in a league more familiar to Scottish football fans, then I think we would be pinching ourselves. I think Taylor is a player who can quickly become a fan favourite and help propel us forward.

Surprise of the season: Shankland signing a three-year deal before Christmas, the media team playing a blinder with references to the constant links to Rangers, and the post going viral.

Bold prediction: Shankland failing to hold onto top scorer title - I think Shankland will still get a lot of goals and likely break 30 again, but these goals will be spread more across the competitions. With Shankland playing an abundance of games for club and country, we may see a bit of rotation within the squad or see him subbed off when games look to be already won. Being the big game player that Shankland is, he will turn up when it matters in Europe and the important cup games. I also predict that we will see other Hearts players stepping up and getting into double figures for the season, with Vargas being the most likely prospect to steal a few of Shankland's goals.

Most looking forward to: European away days - With the Scottish coefficient slowly slipping, and guaranteed European slots getting further away, I think it’s important that we enjoy the European adventures whilst we still have them. A good performance in the competition from Hearts this year could lead to us being seeded next season, and a good performance by most of the Scottish contingent in Europe could see us keep our automatic places, so it may not be all doom and gloom. For now, though, let's enjoy the next few months.