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Steven Naismith brings Celtic up unprompted in first Hearts press conference

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Hearts interim manager Steven Naismith brought up Celtic at his first press conference on Thursday morning.

The former Scotland international has been placed in charge of the Jambos until the end of the season, after Robbie Neilson departed on Sunday.

Naismith made some interesting comments in his first meeting with the media, as shown in this Sky Sports video.

Heart of Midlothian v Inverness Caledonian Thistle - Scottish Cup Semi Final
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

From a Celtic point of view, it was interesting to hear him bring us up unprompted when speaking about some goals he has for his time as Tynecastle boss.

“There’s more to it than just the results,” Naismith said. “The long-term goal for the club has to be bringing more youth players through and playing a certain way in terms of exciting, attacking football.

“But that takes time. That is the only way the club can grow.

“The best example of that is Celtic. They went from appointing a new manager to him being criticised massively, but he stuck to what he believed in and now they’ve massively grown.

“That tells you it takes time.”

It will be interesting to see how Naismith does in his seven-game Tynecastle job interview.

Heart of Midlothian v Celtic - Scottish Cup
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

Aberdeen have had some success with ex-Celt Barry Robson in interim charge, and the Jambos will be hoping for similar as they battle for a third-placed finish.

Celtic are currently a whopping 43 points clear of Hearts, who sit fourth. We will face them one more time this season in the post-split schedule.

That match is due to be at Tynecastle but the SPFL could reverse the fixture if we require a home match.

We’ve won eight-in-a-row against the Jambos since Ange’s very first domestic match back in July 2021.

A lot has happened since then.

In other news, Celtic could hit their 100th league goal of the season this weekend