Heart of Midlothian

Image source, SNS

Hearts head coach Derek McInnes says the club's partnership with Jamestown Analytics to help with recruitment has been a "godsend".

The Tynecastle side are five points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, unbeaten after eight league matches, and several summer signings have impressed in that run.

Claudio Braga is the top flight's joint leading goal scorer, while no player has more assists than Greek winger Alexandros Kyziridis.

McInnes highlighted the "smart and strategic" nature of Hearts' summer recruitment and believes the set-up will help the club to continue progressing.

"Our net spend is only a couple of hundred thousand," he said. "We sell James Penrice and we bring some players in, but the recruitment's been so smart and so strategic that we're not spending fortunes to get ourselves in the position.

"I'm confident with the way the club's set up that we'll continue to improve.

"Recruitment is the toughest part to get right. We feel with Jamestown, we have that real expertise. For that, it's been a godsend for me.

"I work closely with [sporting director] Graeme Jones. We speak every day and we're planning and looking at what we may need and what's available to us."

McInnes was also keen to highlight the importance of the core of longer-serving players such as Craig Halkett, Stephen Kingsley and Lawrence Shankland.

"A lot's been made of the recruitment and all the rest of it," he said. "But I think I need to say that half the team every week, more than half the team, is players that I inherited, players who were already in the building and are producing good form."

"These lads, among so many others, have been first class. There's good players here, I always thought there was good players."

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Falkirk boss John McGlynn admits his side have been dealt a "massive blow" as on-loan Hearts defender Lewis Neilson faces a potentially lengthy spell out with a "major" ankle injury.

The defender, who has made 12 apperances for the Bairns, picked up an issue towards the end of Saturday's 2-1 victory over Motherwell and McGlynn is looking at losing a third centre-back to injury - Coll Donaldson and Tom Lang have been sidelined since the start of the season.

"Lewis took an injury towards the end of the game and it's turned out to be quite a nasty one," the Falkirk boss said.

"So he's going to have to see a specialist on his ankle. It's not looking good.

"I think he's going to be out for some time, which is a massive blow because he's played every minute of every game, bar the game against Hearts when he couldn't play against his parent club.

"He's been exceptional. It's a massive blow for the boy and a massive blow for us because not only do we have Lewis out, we've got Coll Donaldson and Tom Lang out, so you've got three centre-backs out.

"As much as we've got cover, we're kind of running out of that cover, to be honest. [Left-back] Leon McCann didn't make the game last weekend and he's not going to make the game [against Dundee] this weekend, so we are kind of bare bones at the back.

"Tom and Coll have not kicked a ball for us [this season] and it's going to be Christmas before we probably see any one of the two of them, and Lewis is going to be similar. I don't know how long he'll be out but this is not three or four weeks, this is major.

"Everyone gets injuries, but we've had more than our fair share, that's for sure."

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

The euphoria from the Hearts fans in the sold-out away end at Rugby Park last weekend spoke volumes.

In every department on the pitch, there is a quality and a passion to this Hearts team that in previous years was maybe lacking.

With a clean sheet in their last four Premiership matches, it's now been 471 minutes since Derek McInnes' side conceded a league goal.

But it's not just their defending that has been exemplary. Hearts have scored in their past 12 Premiership matches - their longest run in over 10 years.

In their previous visit to Rugby Park in May Hearts had 11 shots on goal. On Saturday evening they had 19.

With every week that goes by, the expectation and hype grows. And on Sunday at Tynecastle the stage is set for what could be the game of the season. A buoyant and table-topping Hearts team taking on a wounded animal in Celtic.

While Tynecastle creates an atmosphere that is the envy of many clubs, this weekend should take it to another level.

It's such a big a game Tony Bloom will be in attendance in what will be only his second match at the stadium (his first was the opening-day win against Aberdeen).

Here is my question to Hearts fans - would you be happy with a point? Would even a narrow defeat be acceptable given the gulf there has been in recent years between the clubs?

Let us know your thoughts here.

Head coach Derek McInnes says Hearts will be ready to spend in the January transfer market even if Brighton & Hove Albion owner Tony Bloom cannot plough any more cash into a title splurge because of European rules. (Daily Record), external

Former Hearts player Saulius Mikoliunas has backed Kazakhstan winger Islam Chesnokov to succeed in Scotland when he joins the Tynecastle club from Tobol at the end of the season in his homeland. (AS News via Edinburgh Evening News), external

Scottish Premiership top scorer Claudio Braga has hailed Hearts head coach Derek McInnes for helping him adapt to Scottish football after his summer transfer from Aalesunds and create a blossoming strike partnership with Lawrence Shankland. (Edinburgh Evening News), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Image source, SNS

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Former Hearts left-back James Penrice says there is no reason why Derek McInnes' side cannot go on to challenge for the Scottish title this season.

The Tynecastle outfit are five points clear of reigning champions Celtic as they prepare to meet in Edinburgh on Sunday and Penrice thinks a sustained challenge is a real possibility.

"Definitely - I don't see why not," Penrice said as his current side, AEK Athens, prepare to face Aberdeen in the Conference League on Thursday.

"It's obviously not something that's happened in Scottish football for a while, but me knowing what's in the dressing-room there, they'll be more than up for it. But they probably won't say they're in a title challenge just now.

"But, if you look at the quality they've brought in, they have players performing at such a high level."

Celtic lost 2-0 to Dundee in the Premiership last weekend and Penrice says this week's match will be a guide to whether Hearts can be title challengers.

"Sunday is massive, but you never know - it's something we're not used to in Scottish football, but hopefully they do," he added.

"Hearts have been brilliant this season. [Hearts midfielder] Beni [Baningime] texted me last night to say 'look what happens when you leave'.

"They have been excellent. I've been watching the games when I can. They have a massive game on Sunday and I wish them the best in that."

David Currie
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Hearts manager Derek McInnes has been talking to the media before his side's Scottish Premiership clash against Celtic on Sunday.

Here are the best bits from his news conference:

• McInnes says Celtic undoubtedly provide the toughest challenge in Scottish football, but insists Hearts are relishing that test and fully believes they can win.

• He would have been delighted with the start Hearts have had were he offered it in the summer, but stresses there is a long way to go in the season and wants to maintain "good levels".

• McInnes touched on "smart and strategic" recruitment with Hearts' net spend being "only a couple of hundred thousand". He thinks that model means the club will continue to improve.

• He calls Jamestown Analytics' expertise a "godsend" and says he speaks to sporting director Graeme Jones on a daily basis.

• McInnes "doesn't care" what form Celtic are in because of the "top players" throughout their squad.

• There is confidence throughout the Hearts squad and McInnes says they aren't "dependent on one or two players".

• Going eight points clear would be "good shooting", but he isn't looking any further than the game itself and says a defeat won't knock them off course.

• McInnes thinks plenty of teams in Scotland are "envious" of Hearts and would love to "slap" them "back down to earth".

• Team news: Ageu is back in training, as is Christian Borchgrevink, who played a bounce game on Tuesday. Ryan Fulton, Finlay Pollock and Frankie Kent are the three absentees.

Image source, SNS

Twenty years ago to the day Hearts found themselves in a similar position to where they are just now - top of the table and unbeaten.

Manager George Burley had had a stunning start to his tenure, winning eight of the first 10 top-flight games, including a 4-0 derby victory over Hibernian, equalling a club record set in 1914 and cementing Hearts as genuine title challengers.

But in a sensational turn of events that shocked Scottish football, controversial owner Vladimiar Romanov sacked Burley, and then chief executive Phil Anderton just nine days later, with Hearts eventually finishing a distant second to Celtic before going on to win the Scottish Cup.

Former Hearts defender and manager Robbie Neilson describes Romanov's regime as "crazy" and "chaotic".

"You had no idea what was going to happen from one day to the next. There was a period where decisions were getting made over in Lithuania, even during the games they were phoning to say who was to come off and go on," Neilson told BBC's Sacked in the Morning podcast.

"It was difficult because there were so many players, but we stuck together. There were 63 players at one point in the first team. It was a crazy period.

"But although George was only there for a short period, he was really good at keeping people together.

"It was massive shock when he was sacked. We were at a pre-match meal and George hadn't turned up yet.

"We were having a laugh and it was a running joke that he had been sacked but as it went on, we started to think he maybe had been sacked.

"It was John McGlynn who had to come and tell us and at that point, a number of players had had enough, especially the guys he had brought in, and it took a nosedive from there.

"Football is chaotic at the best of times, but it was just wild with some of the stuff going on.

"It was a brilliant period in terms of the success of the club and the excitement and the drama that built before the games, then you could see it start to crumble before your eyes, and as it went on, it became worse and worse.

"We were in trouble before Romanov took over and we were in more trouble when he left but that period in between was a rollercoaster ride."

For more on Romanov's chaotic reign, listen to BBC Scotland's Czar of Hearts podcast series

Midfielder David Watson, whose Kilmarnock contract ends next summer, is keen on a move to Rangers, while the 20-year-old scores highly in Hearts' recruitment system and English Championship clubs are also watching his progress. (TeamTalk), external

Hearts head coach Derek McInnes has explained the "mad" and "vast" extent of Jamestown Analytics' scouting system, which rates every player who has played more than 3,000 minutes in every league in the world and helps the Scottish Premiership leaders fill the squad with high-rating players. (Open Goal), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Image source, SNS

Image source, SNS

Chief executive Andrew McKinlay is hoping Hearts can "really put a marker" down by moving eight points clear at the top of the Premiership this weekend.

Derek McInnes' unbeaten early pacesetters have the incentive of opening up the biggest lead the club have enjoyed in the Premiership this century as they host floundering champions Celtic, who are reeling from defeat at Dundee.

"I know Celtic will come here all guns blazing, they're not a club that like what happened to them last weekend, they won't take it lightly, they've obviously got a European game coming [against Sturm Graz] on Thursday," McKinlay said in a club interview.

"But we should go into this, and we will go into this, with huge huge confidence.

"I don't think there'll be any talk of free hits or anything like that. That's not the way I see it, I know it won't be the way Derek or the players see it.

"They'll see it as a huge opportunity to really put a marker down, and I really hope we can do it.

"We've got as good a chance as we've had in a long time to really show that we deserve to be where we are at the top of the league, and I'd love it if we could obviously continue there for for a long time to come."

It has been speculated that if Hearts are in position to challenge for the title come January then investor Tony Bloom will add extra funds for new recruits.

But McKinlay says that would not be the case.

"Yes, we'll have the benefit of of Jamestown Analytics and that is massively important to allow us to kick on if we do feel we need new players in January or indeed next summer," he added.

"But there's been some talk about how if we're in a really great position that Bloom will put more money into the club to invest further. But I think it's important I just emphasise that Tony's not actually in a position to do that.

"He said this himself in August at the beginning of the season, just to do with Uefa rules [about dual ownership], so I just wanted to make sure people do understand that, but I'm very confident that we will have a squad coming out of January that will allow us to to give ourselves the best opportunity as we move through the rest of the season."

Image source, SNS

No club outside the Old Firm have won the title in 40 years - but Chris Sutton insists Hearts can sensationally end that stranglehold this season.

Derek McInnes' side extended their unbeaten start and lead at the top by swatting aside Kilmarnock 3-0 last Saturday for a seventh win in eight games to go five points clear of Celtic.

Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1985 were the last top-flight winner outside Rangers and Celtic, but former Celtic striker Sutton believes the Tynecastle club's challenge is the real deal.

"Hearts have had an incredible start to the season and I think they can win the title this year, I really do," he told The Monday Night Club.

"Partly because of the way they have recruited, partly because of the manager, partly because of their form and partly because of the way Rangers and Celtic are playing, and at this moment of time, I don't see a way out for them until January.

"Hearts have got themselves into a handsome position, they're pretty clear at the top and they don't have European football to contend with as Rangers and Celtic do.

"There's a lot of things pointing in Hearts' favour and with Jamestown Analytics and Tony Bloom, they might go again in the transfer market in January and bring another couple of gems in, because they recruited well in the summer.

"It was a really impressive win at the weekend against Kilmarnock on a plastic pitch, they have beaten Rangers at Ibrox this season, won the Edinburgh derby and they are a well-balanced team.

"They play Celtic this weekend and at the moment I don't think there are many Celtic fans out there that think they are capable of beating them."

Image source, SNS

Head coach Derek McInnes believes high-flying Hearts are "annoying" Scottish football as his side sit five points clear at the top of the table.

The Tynecastle club are unbeaten in the Premiership after eight fixtures with seven wins and a draw and face second-place Celtic at home on Sunday.

There has not been a top-flight winner in Scotland outside the Old Firm since Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1985, but McInnes wants to continue to cause upset for the rest of the season.

When asked about the possibility of ending the Glasgow duopoly, the former Aberdeen and Kilmarnock manager told talkSPORT: "I'd feel more comfortable to answer that type of question around Christmas and January.

"At the minute, the only thing that's on is us being off to a strong start and can we maintain it.

"There's so many people out there who are desperate for us to fail.

"I think guys like yourself, the media and a lot of other people from outwith would love to see a challenger try and break that monopoly and I get that, but equally every club we play against now are the club that is desperate to stop us.

"Rangers and Celtic and everybody else, they'll start to get a wee bit annoyed with us if we keep winning games and I do think we're annoying people at the minute and hopefully we can keep doing that.

"I always believe that there's a chance that a club outwith Rangers and Celtic can have that special season.

"Now, whether it's Hearts, whether it's other clubs that can achieve that, you've always got to try and work towards that.

"We have had a strong start, but the season is in this infancy, we're only eight games down.

"I'm not trying to downplay it, but there's got to be a reality here that, whether you've played poorly or whether you've started the season as well as we have, I think it will be after the first couple of rounds of games, that's around Christmas and new year, that you start to get idea of where everybody's at."

Image source, SNS

Former Hearts defender Ryan McGowan says that although it's still a "long stretch" for his former club to win the league, fans will love the hope that their electric start has given them.

If Hearts beat Celtic next week and extend their lead at the top of the Premiership to eight points, he says it will be interesting to see if the Old Firm clubs are able to respond.

"A lot of Hearts fans are feeling very confident," said McGowan on the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"If you asked them deep down, they would think it's still a long stretch to win the league, and I think everyone knows that.

"But I think what fans love, and what every season they hope for is to have what the Hearts fans are feeling just now.

"That sense of feeling like the club's going in the right direction, feeling you can't wait for the next game. That's what every football fan wants from their club.

"They're enjoying the style of play. They're enjoying the players that have been brought in who are previously unknowns. A lot of them are really good and have started really well, and have taken to the league.

"They're fully confident behind the manager.

"If they win next week and that goes to eight points, it will be really interesting to see how Celtic and Rangers adapt to it."

Jonathan Sutherland
Sportscene presenter

Hearts continued their winning form in the Premiership and added three more goals to their tally to defeat Kilmarnock on Saturday. They've got three players in my team of the week.

An inspirational figure both at the back and up front for the Tynecastle club, Craig Halkett has now scored three goals in three games. He has always been a good player but seems to have found another level since Derek McInnes took over.

A Tasmanian Devil of industry and graft in the Hearts midfield, Cammy Devlin's form is reflected in his recall to the Australia squad. He has become a key component of all that's right for Hearts right now.

Claudio Braga now has eight goals this season following his brace against Killie. The 25-year-old plays with real personality and a smile on his face - no wonder given the way things are going at the top of the table. A fans' favourite with his own Queen anthem "Radio Ga Ga" chant, will he continue his form and put Celtic "Under Pressure" next weekend?

Watch the Sportscene team discuss Hearts' impressive start to the season as they move five points clear.