Hearts boss Derek McInnes has been speaking about challenging Celtic for the title this season but his rhetoric about the points-tally to win the league is completely wrong.
McInnes is starting to get bullish about Hearts’ chances to win the league from Celtic this season, and right now, he has every right to be.
Sitting top of the Scottish Premiership table with 63 points, five clear from Celtic, the Hearts boss claims that the points tally garnered now is league-winning form. But that is simply untrue.
How many points will Celtic end the season with?
Will it be enough to win the league? 😅
McInnes says Hearts points tally is ‘there or thereabouts’ to be Celtic to the league title
With no game this weekend, McInnes has had time to think about Hearts beating Celtic to the title, but the Tynecastle boss has made one big error.
McInnes told the Sunday Mail, “I understand people saying that. I genuinely get it. If Rangers and Celtic are spending their money wisely, everything’s going well and they are all singing and dancing, then it is difficult.
“But I don’t think it dilutes our efforts. No way. The points tally to win the league will probably be there or thereabouts from what would win a league in the past.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  Heart Of MidlothianHeart Of Midlothian | 29 | 19 | 6 | 4 | 52 | 24 | 28 | 63 |
| 2 |  CelticCeltic | 29 | 18 | 4 | 7 | 53 | 31 | 22 | 58 |
“What we’ve had here is certainty, real stability. That helps in football. It helps if you’re stable in the boardroom, if you’re stable in the dressing room.
“You look at both Rangers and Celtic and they’ve had difficulties this season. Despite the advantages of money, they’ve had changes of managers, changes of directors, changes of sporting directors, changes in key positions.”
“But I don’t want to talk too much about them. What we’ve had, to our benefit and in contrast to that, is stability. And I think that helps a football club. We just need to concentrate on ourselves. Regardless of whether any other team, not just Rangers and Celtic, are doing their jobs as well as they can or not, then we’ve just got to try and do ours.”
Fact-checking Hearts boss’ Celtic title challenge claim
A quick fact check shows you that the points Hearts have accumulated now is nowhere near the standards Celtic have set over the last five seasons.
- Season 2024/25: After 33 games, Celtic had 81 points
- Season 2023/24: After 33 games, Celtic had 78 points
- Season 2022/23: After 33 games, Celtic had 92 points
- Season 2021/22: After 33 games, Celtic had 82 points
Even if you allow Hearts the 12 points in their next four games, the only season that comes close to challenging Celtic is 2023/24. All other years, the Hoops were running away with the league.
Going back further, the only season Hearts would be above Celtic with the same number of games played would have been the ill-fated COVID season as the Hoops had just 69 points after 33 games played.
A little bit of fact-checking from McInnes would have saved the Hearts manager a big red face this morning.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
