I watched the Hearts v Hull City pre-season friendly at Tynecastle with unfamiliar interest. These games are normally so turgid and irrelevant to me that i can't get motivated.

The situation down Tynecastle way at the moment, however, is such that, like many other Jambos, I was keen to see if there is any evidence of Csaba Laszlo navigating the club round the corner and back to some kind of challenging position in the approaching season.

I think at the end of the day I learned more about Hull City's chances of survival in the Premier League this season. And I'm afraid they amount to absolute ZERO!

There are many critics of Hearts who may question their chances of staying in the SPL this coming season. Of course they'll survive. The more relevant issue is where they will finish.

There is a gulf between themtop leagues in England and Scotland as evidenced by Liverpool's demolition of UEFA Cup finalists Rangers on Saturday. Even newly-promoted Hull looked organised, assured and confident for a spell at Hearts. But it wasn't to last, and if you take the top half of each table out of the equation, the gulf becomes less obvious.

This became clear within 10 minutes as Hearts constructed the first chance of the game, carving the Tigers open with some neat one-touch football leading to Andreas Ksanavicius going clear through on goal, only to slide the ball wide when he could have rounded the keeper or clipped the ball in.

In that early phase you could see Hull's game plan for the coming season - a fierce work rate, a high up-the-pitch pressing game when not in possession,  and a simple but solid passing game using width in the midfield as much as possible when in possession. On this display they will struggle badly with the pace and strength of much of the opposition in the Premier League.

Hearts went about their task slightly differently. When not in possession the pressing does not start until the ball is in their own half. This is less taxing and ultimately proved to be more successful as Hull quickly ran out of ideas and lost heart for the fight in midfield. 

Hearts pressure just before the break produced a goal when Reuben Palazuelos on the left clipped a cross into the centre for one of the smallest men on the park, Ksanavicius, to head neatly home. A good goal from a Hearts perspective but when a small guy gets between two centre halves (with a yard of space between each) to score, it doesn't look bright for Hull.

Hearts used the second half to give most of their first team squad a run-out. Everyone in maroon looked fit, organised and motivated so lots of positives there. However, there were many similarities to last year's vintage and when the real work starts next week I am sure Hearts will struggle to score goals and so the whole team will remain under immense pressure.

This was Hearts' biggest problem last season. When the pressure was on, players panicked, hid, blamed each other, got booked or sent off, as the season wore on the pressure was greater each week to the point where the team were beaten before a ball was kicked. 

Handling this may well be Laszlo's biggest challenge in his early tenure - how to keep things together when the team's backs are against the wall.  For sure the addition of quality up front would help but I think there is merit in Csaba shouldering that pressure in the early days. He is a big character so he may well be able to rise to that challenge. We'll find out soon as that pressure starts to build.

So where will Hearts finish? Well I reckon they'll grab the last UEFA Cup spot, and if that sounds a bit optimistic after last season's eighth-place finish,  thats what pre-season is all about isn't it - blind optimism!

Read this article in full and much more rantings and haverings about all things HMFC at www.jambosforever.com/blog