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From the latest transfer news, quizzes, videos, features and interviews with the biggest names in the game, plus lots more.Signup +Once a week...And its LIVE!Sign up to our FREE live football newsletter, tracking all of the biggest games available to watch on the device of your choice. Never miss a kick-off!Signup +Join the clubGet full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.Explore An account already exists for this email address, please log in.Subscribe to our newsletterTony Bloom has a habit of making accurate predictions. But as the billionaire gambler turned football club owner revealed his forecast for the season ahead, after announcing a 29 per cent investment in Hearts last summer, it seemed a little far-fetched, even for him. Weve got a very good chance of at least being second this season, Bloom declared at a supporters rally before the new term kicked off. I understand there will be a lot of Celtic and Rangers fans, maybe Aberdeen and Hibs fans, who will be laughing and saying, Ive heard it all before, and thats fine. Im just saying it as I see it.Nae laughing matterThere was some giggling at the back. The Edinburgh club had finished seventh during 2024-25, fully 40 points behind champions Celtic and 23 shy of Rangers in second. Hearts were even propping up the entire table in the early running of that campaign.So while Bloom had a portfolio of sustained success as owner of Brighton and shareholder in Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise, plus A-League club Melbourne Victory, his claim that Hearts could break the Old Firms duopoly so quickly sounded like bravado. Being in the room, there were a lot of fans who were in disbelief, but in a good way, recalls Joel Sked, editor of website and podcast Hearts Standard. But even then, I dont think Hearts fans expected a title challenge. Then the following day, Bloom sat down with the press and talked about potentially splitting the Old Firm this season. I thought, Im not sure thatll happen, its a big ask. Seven months on, Bloom now looks like a football Nostradamus once again, with the Jambos not only taking the fight to Celtic and Rangers, but sitting clear at the top of the table for most of the season. Amid a run of only two defeats from their opening 24 league matches, theyd built a nine-point gap by the start of November. Like a player calling megs before joyfully threading the ball between an opponents legs, it was too premeditated to be a coincidence. Perhaps there was something in Blooms famed algorithm that pointed him to Hearts sudden resurgence after all.Article continues below You may like Im 68, I should grow up, but Hearts being top of the league is killing me as a childhood Hibernian supporter, I think Oh no, not them! But I think they're the favourites, they're adrenaline junkies Former Celtic boss Gordon Strachan talks to FFT When was the last time a team other than Celtic or Rangers won the league in Scotland? I didnt think Tony Bloom would be right for Hearts after Googling him. When I went to meet him, I was being polite Outgoing Hearts chair reveals she was unsure about the Brighton owner investing in the club On reflection, Ive thought that maybe when Bloom said Hearts could split Celtic and Rangers, he had probably analysed the other teams, and that had given him and Hearts belief it was actually realistic this season, Sked admits. Blooms investment may only have been formalised in the summer, but his impact has been felt around the club for longer than that. His data company, Jamestown Analytics, had arrived in late 2024, ahead of his planned investment, with their first major involvement being to identify and hire former Blackpool and QPR boss Neil Critchley to steer them away from relegation danger. Upon Critchleys appointment, Hearts chief executive Andrew McKinlay insisted the analytics only guided them towards a list of candidates, while the interview process decided who was appointed. It was data evolution, not revolution. Regardless, it was clear things were changing at Tynecastle. And although Critchley only lasted six months in the post, Jamestown were laying down roots for the longer term.The data analytics technology, which transformed the way that Brighton and Blooms other football clubs identified undervalued players and coaches, was being introduced into the clubs operations. New sporting director Graeme Jones, formerly of Raith Rovers, UEFA and the Scottish FA, got to work quickly, helping to bring in five new signings to bolster Critchleys squad in the January transfer window. With Jamestown having a say in recruitment, excitement started to build among fans that they could soon be seeing a conveyor belt of future stars lining up in maroon. Blooms investment in the club hadnt yet been confirmed, but his reputation preceded him. Scottish football has been awash with charlatans and chancers whove come in, flashed a bit of money and talked very bullishly about what theyre planning to do, says supporter Scott McIntosh, who regularly appears on Hearts podcast Scarves Around the Funnel. We had this issue with our former owner, Vladimir Romanov, 20 years ago, when he talked about us winning the Champions League within five or 10 years. "But there was no real substance or evidence to say, I buy into it because this has been evidenced elsewhere. With Tony Bloom, you can see what hes done at Brighton, and to an even larger extent, Union Saint-Gilloise, as theyre on a similar level to us and went from the Belgian second tier to winning the top division. So theres hope and optimism for the future.Farewell, Moldovan miseryNobody expected to see any results this quickly, though. Critchleys six-month salvo steered Hearts well clear of any relegation worries, but his failure to lift the side into the top six meant he was sacked.It was a stark reminder to any fans getting carried away Jamestowns involvement wouldnt be an immediate silver bullet for success. There was an appreciation that the clubs next managerial appointment needed to balance an ability to work alongside the data-driven model with a greater understanding of the Scottish game. That hunt ended with Kilmarnock boss Derek McInnes being tempted to take over in Edinburgh. The 54-year-old knew his way around the Scottish Premiership, having had long spells in charge of St Johnstone and Aberdeen before landing at Kilmarnock. Over three-and-a-half years, he led Killie back to the top flight and into the Europa League with a fourth-placed finish.Get FourFourTwo NewsletterThe best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsorsBy submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.McInnes may not have been the most obvious Jamestown appointment, but he undoubtedly came with the pedigree. According to Hearts record appearance maker Gary Mackay, hes the man they needed to bridge the gap between the old and the new. Derek is a manager of men and, no disrespect to the guys who went before him, but hes somebody with years of experience and is a proven manager, says Mackay, who works for the clubs Big Hearts Community Trust. With the team on the pitch, Derek has done brilliantly, but what hes been able to do with the bodies off the pitch is exceptional. "Bringing quality players in is great, but you need to get rid of people who have run their race as well, and thats a skill. Somebody was saying to me they think there could be about 30 or 35 senior professional players at the club currently, and thats great if you can manage it, but its not easy to handle double the amount of players you need on a Saturday thats where the man-management skills come in.A summer influx of 11 new signings significantly increased the size of the Hearts squad, with players brought in from more obscure footballing outposts such as Slovakia, Estonia, Iceland and, er, Walsall. In keeping with Jamestowns approach at other clubs, it wasnt about splashing the cash to deliver success, with many of the newbies moving to Tynecastle on free transfers, and only Brazilian midfielder Ageu setting them back more than �1 million. Despite how it may seem, though, Hearts unlikely title challenge has been about a lot more than building a brand new team based on data, even though the summer cohort has undoubtedly helped. It should be noted that many of the key players were here before last season, Sked says. For example, Craig Halkett has been the best centre-back in the league, but we signed him from Livingston in 2019, and Cammy Devlin was signed from the A-League five years ago. Then theres our top scorer, Lawrence Shankland, whos been here for four years, and we managed to retain at the end of last season, when it looked as though he could go. Thats the spine of the team, and its been added to, with the two most notable arrivals being Claudio Braga, a Portuguese striker from the Norwegian second tier, and Alexandros Kyziridis, a Greek winger signed from the Slovakian top flight. They have been big success stories and are the two guys whove become instant fan favourites. Even if there hasnt been a complete overhaul of the squad, the atmosphere around the side is different. As well as languishing in the relegation zone at the start of last season, Hearts were booed off the Tynecastle pitch by their own fans after a calamitous 2-2 draw against Moldovan side Petrocub Hincesti that December, which saw them fail to progress from the league stage of the Conference League.To turn that sorry situation around so comprehensively has been no mean feat. The DNA of the squad has changed this season, even though some of the players remain from previous years, McIntosh points out. Previous managers Steven Naismith and Neil Critchley wanted to instil in their teams a level of control in games, but if you look back at some of Hearts most successful sides across the past 40 or 50 years, youll see theyve been built on being high tempo, aggressive and physical. What to read next How to watch Scottish Premiership 2025/26: Live Streams & TV Information Finally the bride? Arsenal's rise from disappointment to the cusp of greatness, as told by those who were there along the way FourFourTwo 'On The Ground': Palermo FC access-all-areas Thats why Derek McInnes was such a good find for the club thats a style of football he already embraced, so he was a good fit and that allowed him to get the best out of certain players.Hearts' most painful weekCasual observers have expected Hearts to drop out of the title race by now, if only because recent history says that its inevitable. No side outside the Old Firm has won the Scottish top flight since Alex Fergusons Aberdeen in 1984-85, with the sight of a team other than Celtic or Rangers still leading the way into the New Year almost as rare. The last non-Glaswegian team to finish within three points of top spot was also Aberdeen, back in 1993-94. Hearts were seven points behind champions Celtic when they finished third in 1997-98, and bagged the runners-up spot ahead of Rangers in 2005-06, but were 17 points behind Celtic on that occasion.Since the turn of the millennium, only Aberdeen from outside the Old Firm have got within double figures of the league winners, finishing nine points behind Celtic in 2017-18. So despite a rip-roaring start to the current season that saw Hearts embark on an 11-match unbeaten streak that delivered nine wins a 2-0 triumph at Ibrox and a 3-1 vanquishing of Celtic included most fans still refused to believe a challenge was possible. There was a lot of talk about five or six weeks in, when we won our opening games, that we could challenge for the title, McIntosh says. Most Hearts fans were just in the mode of enjoying the run while it lasted. We had our first little blip in November when we lost at Aberdeen and drew a couple of other games, then a lot of our fans had the perspective of, Thats going to happen, and if we can finish third, thats fine." But the reaction to that blip was going to Parkhead and beating Celtic. We then beat Rangers at home as well it was probably after that game when I started to think, This could actually turn into something here. The Jambos have often saved their best performances for matches against the Old Firm duo four wins from their first four league meetings with them this season showed that they were no flash in the pan.That record, plus the struggles of both Celtic and Rangers, have been an important part of Hearts sustained title tilt. The Hoops championship defence faltered early on under Brendan Rodgers, picked up with interim manager Martin ONeill at the helm, then nosedived again under Wilfried Nancy who won just two of six league games during his month in charge before ONeill was brought back again until the end of the season.At Ibrox, Rangers won only one of their first seven games before Russell Martins tenure came to a hasty end in early October, then they triumphed in 13 of their first 17 under Danny Rohl to roar back into title contention. Former midfielder Mackay came close to becoming a title winner during his 17 years with Hearts, but was part of a team that finished second on three occasions between 1986 and 1992. The 1985-86 vintage fell agonisingly short they didnt lose a single game in any competition between October and the final day, when they succumbed to two late goals in defeat at Dundee, allowing Celtic to take top spot on goal difference. A week later, Hearts were also beaten in the Scottish Cup final by Aberdeen. Just like now, the supporters at that time never expected us to challenge that year, Mackay remembers. For us to go 31 games unbeaten and not have anything tangible to show for it was very disappointing, but would you swap that ride for mediocrity? I dont think so. None of us like looking back on the final day of the season in 1986, because it was a horrible experience, but to have been there fighting against those teams for trophies was a massive period for us.THERE WERE SO MANY GROWN MEN SINGING IN THEIR BOXERS ON A BLEAK AND DREARY EVENINGIt gave the club a bit of pride back, and this season, no matter what ultimately happens, its done the same. It would be wonderful if that pride could culminate in what anyone of a Heart of Midlothian persuasion is looking for.Last days of Rome (in Dundee)If Hearts can go one better than the greats of Mackays era, it would only be the Edinburgh sides fifth Scottish league title, and their first since 1960. With opportunities to add to that so few and far between, a different pressure inevitably builds there isnt the same expectation on them as underdogs, but there is an anxiety attached to wanting to take the chance when it arises. If you make the comparison back to the 1980s and 1990s, we were always underdogs then, too, but we were the ones chasing and trying to get to that level, Mackay says. This season, Hearts have been at that level, and its how they deal with it. People have kept saying, Oh, Celtic are playing so and so, Rangers are playing such and such, what if they win and we get beaten? But we can only impact ourselves. "Theres a pressure, but only because the players have put themselves in that position with their efforts and the quality theyve shown. If the players need to buy into that mindset, so do fans. McIntosh admits that as the season progresses, theres been a feeling that it matters so much more to supporters, but he says they need to show more patience and faith in the players if things dont go quite to plan. Instead of focusing on short-term jeopardy, he insists they should look at the bigger picture. Were at the start of the journey and, in many ways, the current squad is punching well above its weight, McIntosh explains. Although a lot of comments from outside the club have been that this is our chance, I believe well actually get stronger and become a third force fighting for titles more regularly. That might not happen every season, but I do think over five or 10 years, this sort of season will become a more common occurrence for the club.Blooms prediction to break the Old Firms stranglehold this season may have seemed fanciful back in August, but based on the progress that Hearts have already made, his ambition to be a consistent challenger and win at least one Premiership title during the next decade is starting to feel like a genuinely realistic goal. The scenes that McIntosh witnessed during a 3-0 win at Dundee United at the end of January might become the norm. There was a bit of a carnival feel at Tannadice, he says. It almost turned into the last days of Rome by the end of the game. There were so many grown men who had their jeans off, tops off, singing songs in their boxers on a bleak and dreary Dundee January day. It was mental watching it. There was just this decadence among football fans that Ive never really seen in domestic football; it was closer to the atmosphere at a European game. They were singing throughout the match, and singing any of the songs being played across the tannoy system at half-time as well. It was probably one of the best domestic experiences Ive had with the club. The party is only going to get wilder if Hearts can hold off the Old Firm duo as May draws ever closer. With Bloom and Jamestown Analytics in place, the forecast looks good for even happier times ahead at Tynecastle.TOPICSHeart of MidlothianHeartsBrightonBrighton and Hove AlbionCelticRangersUnion Saint-GilloiseAberdeenScottish PremiershipChris EvansSocial Links NavigationFreelance WriterChris Evans is a freelance journalist and has been a regular FourFourTwo contributor since 2014, covering a wide range of stories up and down the football pyramid. Chris's work has also appeared in the Guardian, the Independent and other national newspapers, as well as on the BBC Sport and Mail websites. He is also the author of two books for Bloomsbury Sport, How to Win the World Cup: Secrets and Insights from International Football's Top Managers in 2022, and Gary Lineker: A Portrait of a Football Icon, which was published in 2025.
