Paul Ritchie sees chance for Hearts to ‘split the Old Firm’ after flying start

Paul Ritchie believes the “pieces are falling into place” for buoyant Hearts to capitalise on any chinks in the Old Firm armour this season.

The Edinburgh club are joint-top of the Premiership, level with champions Celtic and nine points clear of struggling Rangers, after five matches.

While acknowledging there is still a long way to go, former defender Ritchie, who won the Scottish Cup with the Jambos in 1998, believes they are potentially on the cusp of achieving something “phenomenal” under new manager Derek McInnes and with the aid of minority investor Tony Bloom and Jamestown Analytics.

“It’s exciting times to be a Hearts fan just now,” he told the PA news agency. “I think the pieces are falling into place.

“In Derek McInnes, they’ve got someone who knows the league very, very well, who’s got a great desire to be successful and with the backing they’ve got and the players they’re bringing in, it seems to be a perfect storm just now.

“It’s only the start of the season, but there’s no reason why they cannot be in the top three this year and, you never know, split the Old Firm. Rangers are having their own problems and Hearts have given themselves a fantastic opportunity to really go after the both of them this year.

“We know it’s going to be difficult. Celtic and Rangers have got the finances that, come January, they can buy again – but if they don’t get that right then you never know where Hearts can be.”

Ritchie believes Hearts are already seeing the fruits of their partnership with Jamestown, with “gems” like Claudio Braga and Alexandros Kyziridis coming to the fore amid their strong start.

“The players they’ve brought in look the real deal,” he said. “The game’s changing, guys like Jamestown have taken football to a different level with the data and how they see things.

“In the past, Rangers and Celtic have gone out and bought the best players available. Now with Jamestown, Hearts are finding the best players that are available, cheap and fall under the radar of the normal scouts.

“It gives us a real possibility to compete with Rangers and Celtic.”

Hearts’ record appearance holder Gary Mackay believes “a wee bit of fate” has allowed the Jambos to recruit McInnes – the last non-Old Firm manager to finish in the top two when in charge of Aberdeen in 2017-18 – at a time when they have access to Jamestown’s expertise.

“We’re in the hands of someone that’s got the T-shirt,” Mackay said of McInnes.

“We’re very fortunate that we have Derek in charge because he’s a seasoned manager who will know how to handle the expectations of the Hearts support.

“Rangers are not reaching the expectations of a club of their size and at this moment in time we are probably overreaching the expectations but it’s about making sure that we stay calm and focus on what we’re doing.

“We can’t have any influence on Rangers or Celtic. We can only influence what Heart of Midlothian can do and, it’s no disrespect to (previous managers) Neil Critchley and Steven Naismith, who didn’t have the opportunity to bring the players that we’re bringing in now, but did not have the experience of dealing with this kind of pressure and this kind of demand that Derek has.

“This is an opportunity for Hearts, and I think we’ve got the right man in charge to challenge in the Premiership.”