My old club Hearts have shamed Rangers and Celtic this season - and they're just getting started

Four points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership heading into this weekend’s home game with Aberdeen, Derek McInnes’ men continue to answer every question asked of them as they bid win their first league title since 1960 and Glasgow’s 40-year dominance on the top flight.

With three of the club’s next four league games scheduled to take place at their Gorgie home, ex-Hearts striker Lee Miller believes the influence of minority owner Tony Bloom and his data-driven player recruitment system, Jamestown analytics, will keep the capital club in the mix for more silverware in the years to come.

“Three of their next four games could be huge for them,” said Miller. “I loved my time at Hearts and Tynecastle was a big part of that. The stadium's right on top of you and when the fans get behind them, they really are the 12th man, and I think Derek will definitely be tapping into that and hopefully they can do the business.

“There's always pressure, isn't there? He’ll [McInnes] probably try and play that down. Tynecastle is a hard place to go for Aberdeen, especially in the run they're in. I just think there's so much uncertainty at Aberdeen, with the manager situation. The season's kind of fizzling out a wee bit for them which hopefully should play into Hearts’ hands.

“But I think, as a manager, trying and look at it from Derek's point of view, he'll just try and play it calm, he'll just try and play his game. Pick a team, pick a formation, try and exploit, as much as he can, the weaknesses of Aberdeen to try and win the game.”

The Romanov affect at Hearts

Miller, who spent time on loan at Hearts during the early days of Vladimir Romanov’s ownership, recalls the excitement that came with the arrival of the Lithuanian businessman, but admits there’s a stark difference between how the club operates now compared to how it did back in 2005.

Asked if they had shamed the Old Firm sides with their performance this season, the 42-year-old said: “Yeah, in such a quick period of time. There's a lot more structure to Hearts just now than when I was there. When I was there, they were having a bounce match with Lithuanian teams once a week, and it was a kicking match.

“He was bringing over a team to play against the Hearts players to see if there was any hidden gems within that. It was pretty wild. It didn't affect me, I was on loan, I was just loving life. There was an excitement when Romanov came in. It didn't quite go that direction, but I think this is a totally different structure, the way it's all set up.

“Yes, it's probably four years ahead of time, ahead of schedule, the way Tony Bloom said that. But it's all credit to Derek McInnes. He's got a real good formula and I just think he's a likeable guy that the players will want to play for. I think you can see that, they're giving everything every single game.

“It is just really the start of the process. I don't even know where they can go with it, but the sky's the limit. With the whole structure of the club, the signings and the data and everything to do with that, we're only just seeing the initial stages of it. So, hopefully they can kick on.

“I think Rangers and Celtic and teams round about will need to buck up their ideas, if anything, because it looks as if he really means business with it, and they’ve done it in such a quick period of time.”

Lee Miller was speaking on behalf of William Hill, the SPFL’s title partner. Check out the weekly preview show here.