Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers unmoved by Hearts investor Tony Bloom's title challenge talk

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers knew Tony Bloom well enough that he did not raise an eyebrow when the Hearts investor made his bold predictions at the start of the season.

The Brighton owner claimed he would be disappointed if Hearts had not won the title inside 10 years after buying a 29 per cent non-voting stake in the club for almost £10million in the summer.

The former poker champion and sports betting expert also declared that Hearts had a “very good chance of at least being second this season”.

The William Hill Premiership is only about one-fifth of the way into the season, but Bloom has so far been vindicated in his ambition.

Hearts have won seven out of eight Premiership games and will go eight points clear if they beat Celtic at Tynecastle on Sunday.

Having witnessed how Bloom’s data analysis has helped transform Brighton into an established Premier League side and turned Union Saint-Gilloise into Belgian champions, Rodgers was not surprised to hear his intentions to shake up Scottish football.

When asked what he thought of Bloom’s proclamations, Rodgers said: “I never had any reaction. Tony’s a clever guy. He’s done fantastic in his life and business.

“I know Tony and Darren, his brother. I go way back to the time at Brighton when they were coming through the levels and they weren’t even at their own ground. The job he did at Brighton is and has been amazing.

“He obviously has seen an opportunity at Hearts and will come in and look to add his expertise and knowledge and look to get them up there.

“Hearts are one of the biggest clubs up here and will want to be challenging, and being in European football.

“So I didn’t think either way of it. I’ve got enough to worry about with Celtic.”

Hearts head coach Derek McInnes posed the biggest challenge to Rodgers during his first spell at Celtic Park, finishing runner-up with Aberdeen in five of the seven trophies that the Northern Irishman won.

The former Rangers midfielder then masterminded Rodgers’ first domestic cup defeat in Scotland when he led Kilmarnock to victory over Celtic in the Premier Sports Cup soon after the former Leicester boss returned.

“They’ve got a really good manager who knows what he wants from his teams in Derek,” said Rodgers, whose side bounced back from defeat by Dundee to beat Sturm Graz 2-1 in the Europa League on Thursday.

“He goes in there, he knows it’s a big club, he knows they’ve got good players, and obviously they’ve made a really, really good start.

“It’s still very, very early. I would expect us to get better as we move along. We’ve been so inconsistent and our goals and all that side of it hasn’t been to where we want.

“But you can see on Thursday, if we can reach those levels against good sides, then we will only get better.

“But for Hearts, they’ve made a really, really good start and deserve to be where they are. They’ve got their points on the board and I think they’ll be looking to challenge right the way through the season.”