Hearts suffered the ultimate heartbreak as they came agonisingly close to winning the Scottish Premiership last season.
Under the stewardship of Derek McInnes, the club enjoyed an incredible campaign that saw them suffer just two defeats and sit top of the table at the turn of the year.
Heading into the final day of the season Hearts just needed to avoid defeat at Parkhead in order to become the first team other than Celtic or Rangers in more than four decades to be crowned champions.
Ultimately though it just wasn't to be, with Hearts unable to defend their lead on the final game of the season and the Bhoys emerging victorious courtesy of late goals from Daizen Maeda and Callum Osmand.
To make matters worse for the Edinburgh club, McInnes subsequently announced his departure - taking the vacant managerial role at Rangers, joining top scorer Lawrence Shankland in making the move to Ibrox.
Hearts announced in June that relative unknown Wouter Vrancken would succeed McInnes at Tynecastle Park, signing a two-year contract with the Jambos.
Vrancken has earned plaudits in his native Belgium across two spells at Genk, and most recently with Sint-Truidense, who he led to a third-place finish in the Belgian Pro League last season.
The 37-year-old now has the unenviable task of attempting to build on a season that saw Hearts come within inches of breaking the duopoly that has dominated Scottish football since Sir Alex Ferguson led Aberdeen to victory in the Scottish Premier Division in 1984-85.
It will be up to Vrancken to prove that last season was not an anomaly, and that Hearts have what it takes the compete with the Old Firm clubs domestically while also competing in Europe - having earned a place in the second round of UEFA Champions League qualifying.
Hearts' Scottish Premiership odds
(Odds will display when markets are available).
All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
