At the weekend just passed, Hearts went out of their second cup competition of the season. They are now playing for the league title alone. Without that, the season ends with nothing. This season, which promised so much, could finish without a single sniff of silverware. The only surprising thing about that would be the number of people who seemed surprised by it.

Hearts suffered a significant blow during the week with the loss of their inspirational midfielder, Cammy Devlin. He has been so good this season that he’s been linked with both Glasgow clubs. I’ve already written how I feel about that — it would do nothing for me and nothing for Celtic — but I understand the role he plays at Hearts. He anchors that team, and his absence for as long as eight weeks is a disaster for them.

Losing their captain and top goalscorer, Lawrence Shankland, for any length of time would be exponentially worse. They are still waiting on word about his condition, and the dread around that situation is obvious. Hearts have talked about returning to the transfer market in the hope of plugging those gaps, but everything is up in the air...