Hearts v Celtic – Chapter One of a new story in Scottish football

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The Celtic Star

·26 de outubro de 2025

Hearts v Celtic – Chapter One of a new story in Scottish football

Celtic travel to Tynecastle today to face Hearts in what already feels like a defining moment in the season…

Celtic starting eleven team group, before kick off. Celtic v Sturm Graz, UEFA Europa League, Group Stage, Celtic Park, 23 October 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace IMAGO/Shutterstock

Hearts go into the game five points clear, buoyed by momentum, belief and a sense of new purpose.

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Celtic arrive knowing exactly what is at stake, win and the gap closes to two points, lose and Hearts open up an eight-point lead that gives them room for the slips and stumbles that winter inevitably brings.

Stuart Findlay of Heart of Midlothian and Lawrence Shankland of Heart of Midlothian applaud their fans after victory during the Premier League match between Heart of Midlothian and Falkirk at Tynecastle Park on September 27, 2025. (Photo by Zak Mauger/Getty Images)

This is Derek McInnes’ first season in charge at Hearts, but he is a manager who knows Scottish football inside out. His years at Aberdeen were steady, respectable, and at times even impressive. There was even a period where Aberdeen looked like they might sustain a title challenge, though it faded before Easter. His spell at Kilmarnock was similar, promotion, top-half finishes, periods of consistency, but also downturns that were difficult to halt. The pattern is of a manager who can build, organise and maximise, but whose projects have often had limits.

This, however, feels like a potentially excellent fit.

Heart of Midlothian v Aberdeen, Scottish Premiership 04/08/2025. Hearts head coach Derek McInnes during the Scottish Premiership match between Heart of Midlothian and Aberdeen at Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh, on 4 August 2025. Photo Malcolm Mackenzie, PSI

Hearts have been reshaped off the pitch as much as on it. The presence of Jamestown Analytics and representation linked to Tony Bloom on the board, including nearly £10m of investment, has allowed the club to be more aggressive, more modern, and more strategic in the transfer market.

Tony Bloom, the Brighton owner, attended his first game at Tynecastle since taking a 29% stake in the club. Heart of Midlothian v Aberdeen, Scottish Premiership, 4 August 2025. Photo Neil Hanna Shutterstock

Hearts have embraced player trading intelligently, a reported net spend of around £300k so far already reflects a clear and balanced recruitment plan. They are willing to buy players McInnes needs, not necessarily just the ones he might want, and McInnes appears to have recognised the value in leaning on that support. There is structure to what Hearts are building.

On the pitch, the benefits are already visible. Hearts have made a strong start to the season. There is depth in key positions that will help carry them through inevitable injuries and suspensions. There is confidence, and confidence in football can take you a very long way.

Stuart Findlay of Heart of Midlothian crosses the ball during the Premier League match between Heart of Midlothian and Falkirk at Tynecastle Park on September 27, 2025. (Photo by Zak Mauger/Getty Images)

Yet they are not flawless. Just as Celtic are short on the right wing, Hearts have their own issues at right-back. Both squads are imbalanced in areas that may become more pronounced as the season tightens.

And the season is about to tighten.

Because now, with the clocks turned back, we step into the real Scottish football season. August to October offer lush pitches and calm conditions. Soon comes the Scottish winter. Expect rain, wind, sleet, snow, ice — and pitches ranging from sodden to frozen to rutted, sometimes in the same week.

Hearts v Hibs, Scottish Premiership 04/10/2025. GOAL 1-0 Craig Halkett of Hearts celebrates with Alan Forrest after scoring the winning goal during the match at Tynecastle on 4 October 2025. Photo Malcolm Mackenzie PSI

Four to five months of this is enough to test every squad’s character. It is long enough for those unfamiliar with the climate to fade. It is long enough for talent gaps to be levelled by the weather alone. These are the months where the title is not always won, that usually comes when spring returns and football breaks out again, but it is where titles are lost.

Hearts have not yet been through that as a contender. Celtic have. They know the chase, the surge, the holding of leads, the grinding of points when pitches and conditions offer no passengers. This is instinctive for them. It is learned behaviour. But Celtic this season have been sluggish, fractured, uncertain. Hearts have built belief. Hearts have given themselves room. Celtic have none.

Heart of Midlothian’s Lawrence Shankland celebrates his second goal with his teammates after the Scottish Premiership match between theRangers and Hearts at Ibrox on September 13, 2025. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)

Which is why today matters so much.

Should Hearts win, the lead becomes eight points. That provides the luxury of mistakes when winter chaos hits, a draw here, a defeat there, without the entire season collapsing. Should Celtic win, however, the gap becomes just two points. Confidence returns. Muscle memory awakens. Experience may once again prove decisive.

This match may be the beginning of something larger. Hearts may not win the league this season. They may not next season either. But everything suggests they are positioning themselves to win it soon, and to make this a sustained challenge, not a one-off early season run. A real rivalry, grown not out of geography but out of ambition may now emerge.

Hearts v Hibernian Scottish Premiership 04/10/2025. GOAL 1-0 Craig Halkett of Hearts scores the winning goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Hearts and Hibernian at Tynecastle Park on 4 October 2025. Photo Malcolm Mackenzie/ PSI

So today at Tynecastle is not just a top of the table fixture. It is Chapter One.

A meeting of a club learning to believe in its potential, and a club trying to reassert what it has consistently been – dominant.

We should embrace it. We should enjoy it. Because if Hearts are really here to stay, then Celtic and Hearts supporters alike might be reading many more chapters of this story in the years to come.

Strap yourselves in. This might just be Chapter One of a new story in Scottish football.

Niall J

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, signed copies by Danny McGrain available from celticstarbooks.com

Don’t miss the chance to purchase the late, great Celtic historian David Potter’s final book. All remaining copies have been signed by the legendary Celtic captain Danny McGrain PLUS you’ll also receive a FREE copy of David Potter’s Willie Fernie biography – Putting on the Style, and you’ll only be charged for postage on one book. Order from Celtic Star Books HERE.

Celtic in the Eighties and Willie Fernie – Putting on the Style both by David Potter. Photo The Celtic Star

Danny McGrain signing copies of Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Photo: Celtic Star Books