Season starts here?
Richard Pitts hopes the Festival Cup draws a crowd - but looks at other attractions

The new season technically kicks off with the Festival Cup on Saturday, with Hibs at home to city rivals Hearts. The initiation of the cup is basically an attempt by Hibs and Hearts to raise some much needed cash, through that other Edinburgh institution the Edinburgh Festival. Or to give it the title afforded to it by any Edinburgh resident trying to get through the centre of town when it’s on, the Edinburgh Festival! However, the SPL have yet again managed to act against the best interests of football in Scotland (they seem to do that a lot, don’t they?) by scheduling a league match between the two for just a fortnight later. Consequently ticket sales have not been very good, although interest is reported to be picking up as the game draws nearer, and I expect a good few fans will eventually turn out on the day. I am as yet undecided. Financial reality means that having recently spent £50 on a trip to Preston I may well have to choose between going to the last of the pre-season friendlies or seeing Hibs kick off the opening game of the season up in Dundee. If the league derby was a few weeks away, it would be no contest. However, with things as they stand, I will probably go for the Dundee United game out of nostalgia for it being the only ground in which Hibs scored a last minute winner last season, a comedy clanger granting us victory. I am also tempted to go and watch Manchester United’s youth team take on Edinburgh City at Meadowbank on Sunday. I sense many Hibs fans may be on the horns of the same dilemma on this one.

On the Straiton question, Hearts fans do not appear enthusiastic, although they have been given less of an opportunity to air their views than the likes of us at Hibs.net. Reading the website chat, the general consensus is they can’t seem to see how moving to a stadium built by Sir Tom Farmer is in their best interests. It’s an interesting perspective given the talk on the Hibs message boards about playing second fiddle to Hearts in any proposed ground share.

A derby is a derby no matter when it's played! (sns)

As I write I hear that Hearts are leading Sunderland by two goals to nil, with Stamp opening the scoring and Mark De Vries adding another. If they do win against Sunderland it will mark a turnaround after some disappointing results, their recent 2-1 defeat to Inverness Caledonian Thistle preceded by a tour of Northern Ireland involving defeats to Ballymena and Linfield. Nevertheless Craig Levein has remained unruffled, suggesting that there is an air of confidence about Hearts, and it’s worth noting that they left out Mark De Vries, Paul Hartley, Andy Webster and Steven Pressley for the defeat to Inverness, with Valois injured. I am also a fan of Hearts team spirit and work ethic, qualities which have meant they have tended to score late winners / equalisers rather than concede them like us. That is an area Bobby Williamson must seek to address and soon, and the pre-season friendlies haven’t convinced me so far. Saturday would be a good place to start.

Looking at their new signings, Hearts have sought to build upon their existing squad by going for strength in depth and players capable of playing in a number of positions, an approach typified by Australian defender Kisnorbo, who appears comfortable on either foot. Craig Levein has done an impressive job of holding together his existing squad, which I thought may have been depleted by transfers after a good season. However, the contract situations of a number of players suggests that changes may be afoot sooner rather than later. Questions must also be asked about how Levein intends to keep four experienced strikers happy, with DeVries, Kirk, Wales and new signing Wyness (who scored against Inverness) all more than capable of holding down a regular starting slot. Indeed, it could well be the case that finances dictate that someone has to move on. In the meantime, the Hearts squad is one that could throw up any number of permutations on the field.

In midfield, one familiar face almost certainly out is winger Jean Louis-Valois, who is undergoing an MRI scan to find out the extent of the damage to his ankle sustained recently. The problem does not appear to be with the Achilles tendon as originally feared, but nevertheless looks likely to keep the Frenchman out for a couple of weeks, making him questionable for the league game against Hibs. This will give the likes of youngsters such as Neil Janzyck a chance to stake a claim, not to mention new signing Paul Hartley. One area where Hearts do look suspect is in goal, with previous loan signing Tepi Moilanen definitely not Levein’s first choice. Indeed, reserve keeper Gordon started against Sunderland. Moilanen was released from Preston North End after the arrival of Scotland International Jonathan Gould. Moilanen seemed to be regarded as something of a liability, and he will be familiar to viewers of the BBC’s “A Question of Sport”, two of his most notorious catastrophes recently featuring on “What happened next?” It is also worth considering that the team that finishes third in one season usually struggles the following season, and whilst Hearts have held their squad together there is almost a sense of inevitability in some quarters. Nevertheless I expect the game to be a close-fought affair, although I am sticking my neck out and going for a narrow victory for Hibs, made slightly narrower by the loss of a last-minute goal.

Elsewhere, I note the Glasgow tabloids are speculating about Ian Murray’s future again, with Rangers scout Ewan Chester being sighted at the recent 2-2 draw with Sunderland. A testimony to the changed times we live in is that the main obstacle to Rangers bidding appears to be a fee in the region £1 million and the failure to move homesick Spaniard Mikkel Arteta on. In view of that cash crisis, I am left wondering what Chester reported back to McLeish regarding the performance of Rangers cast-off Stephen Dobbie, scorer of both Hibs goals. I can’t help thinking that the Old Firm’s appalling youth policy will come back to haunt them one day, and I can’t wait.  You have to wonder though about the tabloid reports - why for example Alex McLeish would need to send his chief scout to look at Murray - they are hardly strangers after all!  Of more importance for Hibs fans, the club look to be on the verge of clinching the signature of Andy McLaren, with an initial one-year deal looking likely before Saturday's match at Easter Road.  Hibs are still waiting though on news from Newcastle on their bid to bring Gary Caldwell back to Edinburgh.