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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
Stewart Wilson

Kris Boyd reckons Edinburgh side could mount Old Firm Premiership title challenge

Rangers legend Kris Boyd believes Hearts could one day mount a title challenge against Rangers or Celtic at some point in the next few decades.

Speaking on the Warm Up, host Gordon Duncan reads the question from a card: "Will we see another non-Old Firm title winner again in your lifetime?"

Guest Gordon Strachan jokes about some people having longer to live from here than others – indirectly referencing himself and one other guest, Craig Levein – before throwing the question to Boyd.

"If you'd have said to me a few years ago, I'd have said no. Because I thought the financial gulf was too big. But I now look at what's going on at Hearts and I genuinely believe there could be.

"I don't think it's a foregone conclusion, or it's a certainty to happen… but it could happen in the next few years."


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This hypothetical seems all but impossible this season, granted, as Hearts sit second bottom of the Scottish Premiership, one point ahead of rivals Hibs who themselves have a game in-hand.

Speaking about Rangers' erratic form this year, Boyd recently called for manager Philippe Clement to refrain from using the fact he's building a 'new team' as an excuse for poor results.

He said: “We sit here, and performances might not be great from Rangers, but they’re winning games again It’s a good habit to have, but I think it’s gone past that now for a lot of Rangers fans.

“It should be [a worry] because I look at in terms of results, you might be getting them, but I think people are looking beyond that now.

“The performances, they are not good enough and I don’t care what anybody says. You sit down, you win a game of football, it’s fine you can move on.

“But Philippe Clement speaks about progression, he speaks about the team getting better, this new team. We are in November. The new team, it’s worn off.

“The new signings, for a large period there wasn’t a lot of them playing which tells me that they are not good enough. They are not good enough.

“So, I get Philippe Clement, he’s trying to keep a lid on it as such in terms of he doesn’t want to maybe throw a few of them under the bus.

“He can’t be happy with the performances right now, and if he is then it would be more worrying if I’m being brutally honest.

“I know you can put a positive spin on it but it’s not convincing and as I said, this progression and getting better and stronger, I don’t see it.”

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