Former Celtic captain makes bold title race prediction

 <i>(Image: Andy Buchanan / Shutterstock)</i>
(Image: Andy Buchanan / Shutterstock)
This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald.

Scott Brown believes Scottish football is set for another tightly contested three-way title race this season, with Celtic, Rangers and Hearts all in the mix.

Celtic secured the Premiership crown on the final day of last term, overtaking long-time leaders Hearts with a home win, while Rangers slipped to third after a late-season downturn.

Speaking to BBC Sport at the Scottish Open pro-am, former Celtic captain Brown said: “I think it’s going to be a three-legged race yet again.

“I think Hearts have been an absolute delight for Scottish football. They’ve done really, really well. I thought Derek did a fantastic job and Martin’s come in at the right point in time.

“If Martin was there for the whole time, Celtic would win the league nice and easy, but Del’s gone to Rangers now, and he’s a very, very good man-manager and he brings out the best in people.

“Looking at what he does and how he deals with his team, he’ll bring in some more Scottish people, English-based people, that understand the club and the culture as well, which, to be fair, I think Celtic’s done really well over the years.”

Hearts have undergone a managerial change following McInnes’ switch to Ibrox, with Wouter Vrancken appointed as his replacement, while Martin O’Neill has been handed the Celtic job on a permanent basis after impressing in interim charge.

Get involved
with the news

Send your news & photos
Loading...