Tony Bloom reiterates Hearts’ title ambition ahead of Celtic Park return

Tony Bloom is standing by his ambition for Hearts to win the title as the club prepares to return to Celtic Park. Last season, Hearts finished behind Celtic after leading the table since September: Celtic came from 1-0 down to win in the closing minutes and leapfrog its rival in a dramatic end to the campaign.

The weeks and months after that defeat also brought several departures from Hearts. Head coach Derek McInnes, captain Lawrence Shankland and midfielder Cammy Devlin moved to Rangers. Alexandros Kyziridis and Alexander Schwolow also left the club.

Bloom has restated both his title ambition and his timeframe: “I’d be really disappointed if Hearts have not won the Scottish Premiership within the 10 years.” Last summer, the Brighton chairman invested close to £10m in the Tynecastle Park club and vowed to “disrupt the pattern of domination of Scottish football”. Reflecting on Hearts’ painful finish to the season, he said: “The way last season ended, in difficult circumstances from a Hearts point of view, is exceptionally disappointing for the club and for me as well.” He added that the club had to accept what happened, even if it could not be happy with the way things ended.

Sunday’s meeting at Celtic Park will be the teams’ first encounter since that title decider. Hearts go into it third in the top flight, three points behind Rangers and a further two behind Celtic. The club is also in the Conference League and the League Cup semi-finals.

After McInnes’s departure, Wouter Vrancken was appointed with the involvement of Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics firm. Calvin Miller, Malachi Fagan-Walcott and Beau Reus are among the new arrivals. Bloom acknowledged that bringing in the new head coach just before pre-season made matters difficult, but said the club had recovered quickly. “We’ve started reasonably well, got a new head coach, so again we’ve got to be hopeful and optimistic for the season to come,” he said, adding that Hearts’ supporters had plenty to look forward to with the new players and the rest of the campaign.

More than a year earlier, Bloom had already told Sky Sports about his plan to topple the established order of the two leading clubs. Hearts finished ahead of them last season, and the title remains Bloom’s stated ambition as he seeks to end the club’s wait within a decade.