Derek McInnes Tactics At Hearts 2025/2026: The Moneyball Makeover Breaking The Old Firm Barrier – Tactical Analysis

Something unprecedented is happening in the Scottish Premiership right now. 

The Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers has dominated Scottish Football for far too long. 

The last team other than Celtic or Rangers to win the Scottish Premiership was Aberdeen in 1985 under the direction of Sir Alex Ferguson. 

In fact, since the Scottish Premiership was founded in 1890, Celtic and Rangers have won 110 of the 129 titles to date. 

If you take a look at the Scottish Premiership table, you won’t find Celtic or Rangers at the top; you’ll see Hearts. 

Not only are they at the top of the table, but they are unbeaten and have a seven-point lead over Celtic 12 matches into the season. 

It’s not a fluke either because they’ve already beaten Rangers 2-0 and Celtic 3-1. 

Manager Derek McInnes had spent over a decade as the Aberdeen and Kilmarnock manager before taking over at Hearts towards the end of last season. 

What he’s done is transform Hearts tactically into a versatile team that can not only dominate the lower end of the table but also be effective without the ball when they play Celtic and Rangers. 

In addition to Derek McInnes tactics, Hearts off the field is a true Moneyball story. 

Brighton owner Tony Bloom purchased a 29% stake in the club for £10m. 

With his appointment, Hearts have access to his vast analytical scouting network, which has made Brighton one of the best clubs in the English Premier League at identifying undervalued players. 

In this tactical football analysis, well examine some of the players Heart of Midlothian F.C. have acquired since Bloom took over and the tactics Derek McInnes is employing to challenge the Old Firm. 

Watch Derek McInnes Tactical Analysis On YouTube

Hearts Transfer Activity

Before we dive into the players Tony Bloom has brought in, let’s take a look at just how much of a talent gap there is between Hearts and the Old Firm. 

According to Transfermarkt, Celtic have a squad value of £117m, while Rangers have a squad value of £92.14m. 

Hearts are currently fifth in the Scottish Premiership with a squad value of only £16.5m. 

This summer, Hearts spent a total of £2.6m on 10 different players. 

Because of Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics recruitment tools, Hearts were able to find key players across the globe for very little money. 

What is crazy about their transfer activity is that £1.76m of their £2.6m was spent on central midfielder Ageu from Santa Clara in the Portuguese Primeira Liga. 

Ageu has only appeared in three matches, playing a total of 72 minutes, due to a nagging hamstring injury. 

The two main players who have had the most impact are Portuguese forward Cláudio Braga, who came from Aalesunds FK in the Norwegian second division, and Greek left winger Alexandros Kyziridis, who came from Zemplin Michalovce in the Slovakian Niké Liga. 

Tony Bloom’s Jamestown Analytics model is truly something else, as Cláudio Braga only appeared in eight league matches for Aalesunds FK last season before getting injured and scoring three goals. 

The season before that, he had decent production, scoring nine goals and having seven assists in 29 appearances, but that was in the Norwegian second division. 

This season, he’s been transformed into one of the best strikers in the Scottish Premiership.

Cláudio Braga Stats 2025/2026

As you can see, he gets into the opponents penalty area and shoots at one of the highest rates in Scotland. 

He’s developed a nice partnership in the Hearts 4-4-2 with Lawrence Shankland up top as the striker who can drop deep and get on the ball. 

It’s a very similar role he played at Aalesunds FK, and you can see from his heat map that he spends a lot of time in the half-spaces, as opposed to in the box.