23 hours ago
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It is a mark of the serenity at league leaders Hearts that what passes as big news this week is the arrival of a player who everybody knew was coming in August and the signing of a defender who is already in the building.
That is, the confirmation that Kazakhstan winger Islam Chesnokov could feature against Dundee on Sunday after finally arriving in Scotland, and the announcement that defensive lynchpin Stuart Findlay will stay beyond his loan spell from Oxford United, which was due to end in the summer.
Both illustrate a club calmly and decisively going about its business, as did the early arrival of new right-back Jordi Altena, who set up the winning goal against Livingston at the weekend just over 48 hours after the window opened.
Rarely do a side top of the league at this stage of a season go under the radar.
But given the tumultuous week at Celtic which saw the swift dismissal of Wilfried Nancy and the hasty return of Martin O'Neill in the wake of a shambolic Old Firm derby loss, Hearts have done just that.
Things have - finally - settled down at Rangers thanks to the influence of head coach Danny Rohl, as they moved three points behind Hearts having played a game more.
But even at Ibrox the constant chatter is about who they can bring in to to help a squad which is yet to fully convince.
Celtic are in the same position, with O'Neill saying on Tuesday they hope to be busy this month, having also dismissed head of football operations Paul Tisdale.
Derek McInnes is in a far more comfortable position.
"I've been a manager in January when I'm looking for five, six or seven players and it's never a good situation to be in because it means you've not done your work properly in the summer," the Hearts boss said when asked about the early business the club had done.
"We're quite relaxed in what we're doing. I'm not saying there won't be business done but the bulk of our work was done in the summer."
McInnes' calmness does not just extend to transfers, but also the knowledge his team deserve to be where they are.
There is no obvious data pointing to over-performance, or a sense of luck.
Hearts have won the most games, scored the most goals, and have the best goal difference.
They have the best home record, the best away record, and the league's top scorer Lawrence Shankland, who McInnes described as the "best striker in the league".
Alexandros Kyziridis has the joint-most assists in the Premiership, and Hearts are the biggest threat from set-pieces in the division as well.
They have beaten Celtic and Rangers twice each.
Given the relative weakness of the Old Firm, plus the strength of Motherwell and Hibernian as well, a points total below 80 could conceivably be enough to win the Premiership.
McInnes himself took Aberdeen beyond the 70-point mark consistently while at Aberdeen. It is no wonder the Hearts manager is content.
Who knows how this engrossing season will turn out, but the belief and confidence in Hearts up to this point has been fully justified.
"I want us to meet the expectations of the support here and in time exceed those expectations," McInnes said.
"Now we're probably exceeding [those] where we are at the minute. But we're comfortable with it. I don't think there's anybody at Hearts uncomfortable with where we are.
"We're exactly where we want to be. We've been top of the league now for over three months.
"This isn't just a little run of form. It isn't just a little spell. It's something more than that. Something substantial there."
McInnes has managed close to 800 games, most of them in Scottish football.
As a player at Rangers he was involved in the thick of the Old Firm drama, so he knows exactly just how frenzied this end to the season could be if it turns out to be a three or four-way title race.
It is a delicate balance for him to ready his players for that, while keeping things quiet as the noise from Glasgow builds. But it is a task he appears to be relishing.
"Every game becomes a bit bigger now," McInnes said. "There is less room for error, teams are up and running and every game becomes more challenging.
"The game was every bit as important for Livingston as it was for Hearts last week. Very rarely do you get straightforward, run-of-the-mill games.
"We just need to meet that head on. I want every game to mean more than the last one.
"It's important we try to search for those improvements, regardless of what other teams do. You expect other teams to sort out what they need to sort out.
"We just need to sort out ourselves and keep calm with our work."
