The life of a Heart of Midlothian fan is far from straightforward. Let's rewind a few weeks to the middle of pre-season and the team's second pre-season fixture.

Supporters were excitedly looking forward to this season in a way that has rarely been seen since the heady days of Vladimir Romanov and George Burley. After a successful third-place finish with an impressive points total, Steven Naismith had reinforced his squad and another eight-game (at least) European campaign was on the horizon.

Of course, Hearts lost to Leyton Orient that afternoon. All in, the pre-season results weren't that great tempering the excitement slightly. But pre-season is not the real thing. That strength of feeling returned after an impressive performance against Rangers. It was a game the team perhaps should have won with the way they played and the chances they created.

Then came Saturday and the 3-1 defeat at Dundee, including an eye-opening first-half.

I shall reiterate. Life of a Hearts fan is far from straightforward. 

And that's where Hearts Standard comes in. Our aim is to chart the ups and downs of a wonderfully frustrating - or is it frustratingly wonderful? - football club in as much detail and depth as possible.

With the start of the new season, we have an offer this week, allowing fans to subscribe to all our content for £12 for the year. Now, what will you get for £12? 

  • Exclusive interviews - We have spoken to Craig Gordon, Alex MacDonald, Branimir Kostadinov, Cammy Devlin, Saulius Mikoliunas and many more. We hope to bring more in the coming days and weeks with a one-time cult hero and perhaps a legendary figure.

  • Tactical analysis - We rewatch every league and European game and provide details analysis of what went right or what went wrong, such as this from the weekend's game. Sometimes we will focus on a player, like we did last week with Gerald Tayor's barnstorming debut against Rangers.

  • Statistical analysis - The tactics will be balanced with a stats offering. We have partnered with StatsBomb, an industry-leading platform that works with clubs across the country.

  • In-depth features - This can be anything from Eduard Malofeev's ill-fated time in charge at Tynecastle Park to a focus on a certain player at the club, like Macaulay Tait and Callum Sandilands, or taking you inside certain avenues at the club, whether it be pre-season or news kits.

  • News - It is also important to cover all the latest that is happening in and around Tynecastle Park, attending press conferences and every game.

  • Europe - We will be at every game the club play, ensuring you don't miss a beat from the European run. Within that, we will aim to bring you as much detail, whether it is certain elements of what it is like being in Europe for the club or scouting reports on opponents.

  • Hearts B - We are aiming to increase the coverage of Liam Fox's B team, providing an insight into the next generation of players. In time, we hope to do the same with the women's team.

  • Video - Now, this isn't part of the subscription but we also produce 2-3 videos per week on our YouTube channel and Facebook (and as podcasts) discussing the latest from Tynecastle Park. In addition, we film each post-match press conference which you can find on the YouTube channel.

We want to give Hearts fans a product they can trust and enjoy. Our model is subscription-based. It allows us to spend more time on articles and not have to chase page views.

With all that in mind, we would love you to subscribe if you haven't already as we chart those ups and downs of what should be an exciting season that will take the club around the continent. Hopefully, there are far more ups!

Subscribe here: https://www.heartsstandard.co.uk/subscribe/

Any questions or feed back, don't hesitate to reach out to me via my email (joel.sked@newsquest.co.uk) or via Twitter.

Terms and conditions apply. Offer ends 19 August 2024 at 23:59 BST. £12 for one year offer only valid on Annual subscriptions. Subscription auto-renews unless cancelled. After the first year, Annual subscription will be charged at £34.99 per year. Offer is exempt from gifting subscriptions. All subscriptions can be cancelled and refunded within 14 days of purchase. Non-subscribers have limited access on the Hearts Standard app. Hearts Standard reserves the right to change or remove the offer at any time. Please see Terms & Conditions for full details.