Jamestown turns envy of Hearts Premiership rival as Celtic urged to learn lessons from key Tynecastle transfer cornerstone
A former Hoops boss has encouraged his old side to take notes on the league leaders.
As Jamestown Analytics continues to work wonders for Derek McInnes and Hearts, Celtic have been urged to adopt a similar model.
The Jambos currently sit seven points clear of their Glaswegian rivals and remain unbeaten in the Premiership thus far. However, the Hoops have a game in hand against Dundee United that is scheduled for next month. What makes Hearts’ lead even more remarkable is that they spent around £10 million less than Celtic in the summer.
The Gorgie side signed Claudio Braga from the Norwegian second tier and Alexandros Kyziridis from a mid-table Slovakian side with the help of Tony Bloom’s investment and Jamestown Analytics, a system which detects high-performing players through statistics and data.
After a disastrous summer window for Celtic, where they failed to replace the likes of Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah, former manager, John Barnes has said that they should take a few pointers from Hearts, in signing hidden gems and selling them on.
Celtic must understand how to ‘shop in the second tier’
Barnes, who had a torrid time in his debut managerial role at Parkhead at the turn of the century, believes that his former side are no longer in a position financially to bring in big name players and will have to be more savvy with their recruitment, using Hearts as an example.
Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy podcast, the former England International said: “I remember when, even Celtic, when Martin O’Neill went and they had like Henrik Larsson and then they bought, you know, Chris Sutton and they were buying players from England who were top English players, and Rangers obviously had Michael Mols and Brian Laudrup and these players, who are one of the best in Europe, they can’t do that anymore.
“So what they need to do is understand how they have to shop in the second tier, which means that you have to have an idea as to who you can get in the second tier, which is what Brighton have done, and though you can get them in the second tier and make them great and sell them for money, the Hearts have done that.”
‘Celtic haven’t got better players than Hearts’
The 62-year old went onto admit that the Hoops squad isn’t currently better than that of Hearts’. He said: “So Celtic haven’t got better players than Hearts, which in the old days they did, and because they haven’t had that model of buying those players who you know are good players for maybe five and six million and maybe can sell them for more money.”
Last month’s match at Tynecastle further highlighted this, when the Jambos beat the current champions 3-1 in what was a dominant Gorgie display. However, the real test for McInnes’ side now will be whether or not they can maintain the positive results on a consistent basis.
Following the International break, Hearts travel to Pittodrie on Sunday, a ground which hasn’t been kind to them in recent years against an improving Aberdeen side. Meanwhile, Celtic will have the chance to momentarily close the gap on Saturday against St Mirren.