The Scottish Premiership landscape has been entirely flipped on its head this season, with Hearts disrupting Celtic’s dominance.
With Derek McInnes’ side currently leading the pack in the Premiership table, an interesting question was posed to Chris Sutton and Kris Boyd: Will this nail-biting three-horse title race this season become the new normal?
In recent times, Celtic have won 13 out of 14 titles, but not since 1985 has a team outside of Glasgow lifted Scottish football’s main crown.
For Boyd, the current situation is merely the beginning of Hearts’ upward trajectory, and he thinks this campaign is the ‘worst’ the Jambos will be.
Meanwhile, Sutton found it ‘impossible’ to provide a proper answer because ‘you don’t know Celtic’s reaction’ this summer as a massive overhaul is expected.
Boyd: “I think this will be the worst that Hearts will be. I think they will improve over the summer. The squad will get better.”
Sutton: “It’s impossible to answer. It’s really hard to judge. It does seem like Hearts, with the backing they have from Tony Bloom, aren’t going away.
“You don’t know Celtic’s reaction. Even if Celtic win the league, which isn’t going to happen, they are going to have to go big in the summer. We don’t know the size of the overhaul.”
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Is this Celtic’s biggest test of mentality this season?
Who will be crucial to get the win?
‘They aren’t going away’: Sutton and Boyd debate the future of Celtic, Rangers, and a resurgent Hearts
With Rangers, it’s the same old story. A massive build-up before a ball is kicked, telling the world how they are back and will win the title, before falling flat on their face.
But one guarantee is that Celtic are always near the top, even during this chaotic campaign, Martin O’Neill has the team pushing for the domestic double.
You sense that for this chaos to continue, a lot of it depends on Hearts.
As Sutton and Boyd touched upon on The Breakdown, this Hearts model, led by Tony Bloom, is only in its infant years, and the best is yet to come.
If that happens, then years of Celtic winning comfortable title after comfortable title will no longer become the norm because Hearts will continue to knock on that door.
Steven Naismith asks a question from a fan: “Will the Premiership be a three-horse title race from now on, or will Celtic and Rangers come back?”
Boyd: “I think this will be the worst that Hearts will be. I think they will improve over the summer. The squad will get better.
“We touched upon it at the start of the season. They are ahead of schedule – I think there will be a lot of them better for next season. There will be more players coming in.
“I do think Hearts will improve. I also think Rangers and Celtic will improve. It’s going to be a huge transfer window for Celtic. Not just a transfer window. There has to be an overhaul. All the way through. You are even talking about the board. It’s the whole club that probably needs refreshing.
“I do think the three of them will improve.”
Naismith: “Do you think, though, next season, the three will be tight or around about…”
Sutton: “It’s impossible to answer. It’s really hard to judge. It does seem like Hearts, with the backing they have from Tony Bloom, aren’t going away.
“The refreshing thing about this season, the truth is that it’s good to see. Hearts, not keep up with the pace; they are ahead of Rangers and Celtic.
“It’s impossible to answer. I am not sitting on the fence. Kris touched upon it. You don’t know Celtic’s reaction. Even if Celtic win the league, which isn’t going to happen, they are going to have to go big in the summer. We don’t know the size of the overhaul.”
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