Sander Kartum truly announced himself as a Hearts player during last week’s Scottish Cup win over Dundee.
The Norwegian midfielder had a slow start to life in Gorgie as he had to build himself up after four weeks of activity having finished his season with Brann before making the move to Edinburgh in January.
He had been blooded several times as a substitute before his first start in the recent win over St Mirren, before being relegated to the bench again for derby defeat to Hibs. There had been criticism for his performance after coming on.
But a classy double last Friday night showed what the 29-year-old is all about. Meeting a Blair Spittal lay-off, he opened his left foot up and wrapped it around the ball for a beautiful curling effort which sailed high into the net.
His second might have been even better, a clever turn away from a defending player before somehow angling a low effort away from Trevor Carson with the outside of his boot.
It was a matchwinning input to the 3-1 victory and Hearts’ reward is a semi-final draw against Aberdeen.
But Michael Stewart hasn’t been overly impressed with Kartum’s contribution and he has told people to ‘calm the jets’ after what he feels has been an overreaction to the goals.
Hearts players big Sander Kartum up to Ryan Stevenson
But Ryan Stevenson has gone the opposite way after what he has been told by Hearts players about Kartum’s performances in training.
The former midfielder was at the St Mirren game and speaking to some of the current squad who raved about their new teammate.
Stevenson does agree with Stewart’s assessment that Kartum’s current role on the right of a diamond doesn’t really suit him and he’d be better as a number 10.
He said in the Daily Record: “Sander Kartum scored a couple of quality goals and looked decent. I was at the St Mirren game and a lot of the boys had been saying Kartum looked amazing in training.
“The first couple of games, it was difficult for him. He certainly found it hard against the Buddies but you can see he’s now finding his feet.
“Everybody at the club says he is a really good player. The suggestion is he is more suited off the striker or in the middle.
“He is being asked to play wide just now in the diamond and I’m not sure that suits him. His first goal against Dundee, it was so nonchalant.
“As soon as he hit it, you could see it was going in the top corner. I hate admitting it but left-footers always look better than right and he seems a classy player. He’ll be a decent signing. He affects games and if you can score goals like that, he will become a big player for Hearts.”
Hearts winning Scottish Cup would outrageous
Hearts now have a chance of reaching the Scottish Cup final after doing what everyone wanted and avoiding Celtic in the semi-final.
Winning that would give European group stage football again with entry to the Europa League play-offs and the insurance of the Conferecnce League.
Stevenson says that would be an “outrageous” achievement given where the club was when Neil Critchley took over.
He added: “Hearts could have the chance to turn a poor season into a truly memorable one if they end up in the Scottish Cup Final.
“They have Aberdeen in the semis and it’s a massive opportunity. Hearts, who will be delighted they have managed to avoid Celtic, have a great record at home against the Dons. Also, outwith beating Hibs in last November’s League Cup semi-final, Aberdeen’s recent record at Hampden isn’t great.
“They started the season well and are a decent team but have hit the skids of late. If there was ever an opportunity for Hearts to get to a final, this is it. Aberdeen will be saying the same thing. Yes, Celtic will be big favourites… but the key is getting there. If they can see off Aberdeen, then anything can happen in 90 or so minutes at Hampden.
“I don’t want to jinx it and say Hearts can lift the cup but what an achievement that would be. Hearts were the bottom of the league when Neil Critchley came in almost five months ago.
“If he can finish the campaign by winning the Scottish Cup and taking the club into the group stage of European football again, it would be absolutely outrageous.”