Hearts are leading the charge ahead of Celtic during the early stages of the new Premiership season.
Last season, Celtic would have seen Aberdeen make noises about possibly challenging Brendan Rodgers’ side for Scottish football’s main crown.
But since then, when it comes to domestic action, the Dons have fallen flat on their face, including now sitting at the bottom of the Premiership table.
That’s probably why Hearts boss Derek McInnes simply didn’t want to hype up his side’s chances of challenging the champions of Scotland for the title, after beating Falkirk 3-0 over the weekend.
Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty ImagesDerek McInnes on Celtic title race after Hearts beat Falkirk
Hearts’ new investor, Tony Bloom, has talked the talk and stated he wants the Edinburgh side to win Scottish football’s main crown.
But when McInnes was asked on Saturday whether he ‘feels’ like he is in a title race, he quickly shut it down and tried to take the pressure off his players.
McInnes, who left Kilmarnock and joined Hearts in the summer, made it clear that his team are ‘a million miles away’ from the title race.
Sky reporter: “Does it feel like you are in a title race now?”
McInnes: “Haha. Good try. We are just delighted to be winning. We are only six games in. The league is still in its infancy.
“I think, normally, as I said before, we go through these two rounds of fixtures. You have played everybody home and away.
“Teams normally get a sense of where they are going to be. Whether you are in a relegation fight. Fighting for the top six. Europe. And the teams at the top end of it.
“We are a million miles away, still, from where I want us to be. And we are a million miles away from people really genuinely thinking that, let’s be honest. We are just enjoying the win, and hopefully, we can improve.”
🗣️ “We’re a million miles away from people genuinely thinking that, let’s be honest”
Hearts head coach Derek McInnes is downplaying early talk of a title race as they go top of the league following their win over Falkirk ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SJOMytXrwA
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) September 27, 2025
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Celtic’s dominance in Scotland
The last team, outside of Celtic, to win the Premiership title was Rangers under Steven Gerrard during the 2020-21 season.
But, in 13 out of the last 14 seasons, the Hoops have come out on top, including 19 titles since the turn of the century.
Celtic have more Trebles in the last decade than their nearest challengers have won titles, not forgetting winning 42 trophies since 2000, with the next best being Rangers with 18, which further indicates how Scotland’s most successful club continues to eat up the trophies.