Hearts faith in Steven Naismith has been rewarded big time in contrast to the shambles at Hibs - Ryan Stevenson

Hearts have got an obvious asset in Scotland’s Player of the Year Lawrence Shankland.

But Steven Naismith is fast becoming a huge one himself. And just like with the skipper, I’d like to think the Tynecastle hierarchy have a contingency plan in place in case a bigger club comes calling for the manager. Because if Naisy can build on what has been achieved in the last 12 moths next season - like he says he wants to - then it will become increasingly difficult to hold onto him.

It’s massive credit to the club that they stayed calm and refused to panic during turbulent times early on in the season. You only have to look at that lot across the capital to see the absolute shambles that ensues when you continually pull the trigger. Hibs will admit that themselves. Another manager bulleted. They’ve gone through four in less than three years. All that happens with that is you turn over player after player after player and there’s absolutely no long-term stability.

Hibs are at least a year away from being anywhere near fighting Hearts for third. And that’s incredible. Any successful club has stability at the top. Look at Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Rangers under Walter Smith and at Celtic it’s no surprise they brought Brendan Rodgers back. Continuity is key. Everyone at Hearts stuck to their guns and that’s why it’s turned into a successful season.

But by the same token, one thing for certain in football is that success brings opportunities elsewhere. You look at the Hearts manager and the career he had as a player and you just know he will want to be as successful as he possibly can be.

Hearts will hopefully be well aware of that and constantly have people in mind they think could come in and do the job and buy into the ethos