![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_JS399240639.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMulgrew has made Hearts his favourites but doesn’t fancy Rangers’ chances under Danny Rohl<\/p>\n
09:17, 09 Apr 2026Updated 09:24, 09 Apr 2026<\/p>\n
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Rangers’ James Tavernier and Djeidi Gassama look dejected <\/p>\n
Celtic hero Charlie Mulgrew reckons Rangers<\/a> will finish THIRD this season \u2013 but he’s named Hearts his title favourites despite previously writing the Jambos off.<\/p>\n The three-way title race looks tougher than ever to call with just one game remaining before the split as just three points separate leaders Hearts<\/a> from defending champions Celtic<\/a> in third.<\/p>\n Rangers briefly took top spot for the first time this season at the weekend only to be knocked back off it within 24 hours after Hearts’ draw with Livingston.<\/p>\n Weekends where all three win are few and far between with virtually every matchweek providing a twist or turn in one direction or another. It means we’re set for a hugely dramatic post-split season \u2013 and the potential for a mouthwatering Helicopter Saturday on May 16 where Celtic host Hearts while Rangers travel to Falkirk<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mulgrew, who won five successive league titles with Celts, dismissed Hearts’ chances of going all the way earlier in the season but he’s finally ready to make them favourites.<\/p>\n But despite Rangers recent resurgence now putting them out in front with most bookmakers, Mulgrew reckons they’re on a hiding to nothing in the Premiership.<\/p>\n Speaking on The Breakdown podcast<\/a> with Ibrox hero Kevin Thompson, Mulgrew said: “I don’t think Celtic will win it… Celtic will finish second this year. There you go.”<\/p>\n Thompson then asked him who wins it if not Celtic, and Mulgrew responded: “It’s Hearts’ to lose.”<\/p>\n That sparked a sceptical follow-up from Thompson who asked: “So you think Rangers will finish third?”<\/p>\n And Mulgrew confidently replied: “Yep, that’s what I think. Hearts, Celtic, Rangers. In that order.”<\/p>\n It’s a change of tune from Mulgrew who has frequently voiced doubts this season over Hearts’ chances of going the distance. Speaking back in December, after Hearts bounced back from a four-game winless run to consign Wilfried Nancy to a nightmare dugout debut, he said: \u201cI think the Celtic game suited Hearts. They try to play possession-based football against Kilmarnock in midweek, and Kilmarnock had the best chances.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s why Hearts won\u2019t stay up there. A lot of the games they play, outside of Celtic and Rangers. The onus will be on them to have possession and go and attack. I don\u2019t think they are a possession-based team. It suits them better to play on the counter-attack.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s only their second win in seven. They struggled against Kilmarnock at home in midweek after having loads of possession \u2013 I don\u2019t think they are serious contenders. I think there is a reason why they are 6\/1. I am not fooled by Sunday\u2019s game.\u201d<\/p>\n Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google\u2019s preferred sources. Click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tune in to Hotline Live<\/a> every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport’s newest podcast, Game On<\/a>, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mulgrew has made Hearts his favourites but doesn’t fancy Rangers’ chances under Danny Rohl 09:17, 09 Apr 2026Updated…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2817,62761,218,9531,122481,2714,8058,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-521217","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-celtic-fc","9":"tag-charlie-mulgrew","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-hearts-fc","12":"tag-kevin-thomson","13":"tag-rangers-fc","14":"tag-scottish-premiership","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}