No Old Firm dominance 'from now on'
"Probably the last 15 years, apart from the one season when Rangers won the league, it's dominated by one club. It's not good at all and I believe I can make a difference. "I think it's really important overall for Scottish football that it is not a one or two club show and it's not going to be from now on, I assure you."Bloom said that, when he first started talking to Hearts, the view was that the target was to finish third, but now he says "the very minimum should be to finish third".He said the situation was similar to his investment in Union Saint-Gilloise, who he has helped reignite to an extent that they won the Belgian title for the first time in 90 years last season."Every game Heart of Midlothian play in, we will play to win," Bloom said. "Every tournament that Hearts are in, we think we can win it, we are aiming to win it."I accept the fact that, when we get into the Champions League, that may be a little bit difficult. But we have to have belief - we have to have big belief in who we are, what we are, our players, our head coach, and everyone at the football club."With the squad of players that sporting director Graeme Jones has helped put together under Derek McInnes, I think we will continue to get stronger year on year."Bloom revealed that his interest in Hearts goes as far back as 1986, when they needed only a draw away to Dundee to seal their first league title for 26 years only to lose out to two late goals."When I was growing up, it wasn't always an Old Firm show," he said. "I'm sure a few of you here will remember 1986. I'm sorry to have mentioned it – maybe that wasn't such a good idea!"
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Times
35 minutes ago
- Times
Russell Martin warns Rangers players: ‘Get with the programme or get out'
Russell Martin has no concerns about his Rangers players reacting negatively to his weekend lambasting of their collective mentality. The new Ibrox head coach unloaded on his men for a perceived lack of effort and desire in the 1-1 draw with Motherwell and expects a response in Tuesday night's Champions League third qualifying round, first leg tie at home to Viktoria Plzen. Insisting that his remarks came from 'a place of love', Martin said that if they caused players to retreat further into their shells, it would tell him something fundamental about their character. 'If it has a detrimental effect on certain individuals, then they're probably not the ones we want to come on the journey with us,' the former Southampton manager acknowledged. 'If it has a detrimental effect on you and it hurts you to the point where you feel singled out, then there's probably an issue with you being all-in at this place and this club and with us. So I don't have any worry about it being detrimental on the team. Whenever I've questioned any of our teams in the past about attitude, the response has been fantastic. 'I've not said one thing addressing them and then told you [the media] another thing. They've heard exactly what I've said to you guys in addressing them. So I guess this is where you learn a lot about people. And I'm really comfortable because I know where it comes from. It's not a concerted effort to out anyone or to try to beat someone. 'I'm going to be honest with everyone. They've served us well so far. I'm pretty sure they'll serve us well again and we'll be really successful. We just have to get through some teething problems.' Some supporters and pundits have questioned the wisdom of Martin going so hard so early with his new charges, having only overseen three games thus far. But the 39-year-old maintains that he will always be true to his principles in how he deals with his players as well as how he sets them up on the pitch. 'It's not a choice that we only sometimes need to [be honest] and sometimes not. That's how I feel in life in general and in my job. It's how I've been for six years with the players. There's been a couple of times when I've done it at previous clubs and never had to do it again. 'I'm just always going to be honest with the players and the supporters. I'm not here to play any games and be political and all that. I'm in a job that demands certain things and when we fall short of that there's just no point in hiding behind stuff. The fundamental problem on Saturday was not knowledge, it was not ability, it was attitude. I wasn't emotional on Saturday, it was exactly what I said to the players. 'This football club and the supporters will demand certain things that are not acceptable and certain things that they have to be shown every single minute you're on the pitch. It's the same old stuff I said from day one, which is fight, willingness to run, to help each other out. 'It is hard to play for this club, it's not for everyone, it's not easy. You have to be a really resilient and strong person. The self-preservation stuff I spoke about happens throughout football. It's really difficult when you're having tough moments and you slip back into trying to protect yourself, but actually that doesn't help. So I have empathy for players when it gets tough, but it's always got back to being really horrible and hard to play against. We weren't hard enough to play against on Saturday, so that's what it came down to. There's no point in sugarcoating it, the players know what to expect. 'We have a lot to improve and work on. But the stuff to improve needs to be technical, tactical. While we're building and changing so much, the things that we need to work on can't be mentality. It has to be the rest of it, the detail, the technical stuff, the tactical stuff. Let's build it on the basis of a really strong mentality wherever we go. That has to be the bottom line.' Mentality has long been considered a problem under a succession of Rangers managers, and while Martin has threatened to 'leave behind' those who cannot or will not shape up on this front, it is unclear how this might be possible in the context of a bloated squad. In the same post-match address at Fir Park, Martin said that only Cyriel Dessers had attracted a bid or serious interest so far this summer. 'There's plenty of time before the end of the window. I'm pretty sure all the players in here want to be part of something. And if, at the end of it, they don't want to be here, I don't want to force anyone to be at the football club. And it's up to their agents to find the right people for them and for us. 'We need to create better habits throughout the whole team, throughout the whole club. And habits that we can actually rely on when times get tough. Rather than the whole piece falling apart and imploding and all of that stuff. Which I think is, when I speak to the staff and the players, what's happened before. So we have to create better habits, a better foundation of performance. Some principles that are non-negotiable all the time.' Martin expects a 'tough' examination from Plzen, who reached the last 16 of last season's Europa League and effected a spectacular turnaround in the second leg of their most recent top-tier qualifier against Servette [winning 3-1 in Switzerland]. 'They're really, really powerful, really strong. Play forward quickly, run forward quickly. It's a really different test than the Panathinaikos one. They have real strength in certain areas, but we have to try to turn the game, especially at Ibrox, into the game that we want. Move the ball quickly, better than we did the other day. But we have to really be up for the fight against these guys because they're really strong, they're together and they're a powerful team.' Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager. Thelo Aasgaard and Hamza Igamane will again miss out as they recover from minor injuries, while work was ongoing on Monday evening to add the new signings Oliver Antman (the Finland winger who has joined from Go Ahead Eagles for around £4m) and Mikey Moore to the Champions League squad ahead of the 11pm deadline. ● Celtic have been drawn to face either Kairat Almaty or Slovan Bratislava in the Uefa Champions League play-off round, with the winners progressing to the league phase and a bounty in excess of £40million. The first leg will take place at Celtic Park on August 19 or 20, with the Scottish champions hitting the road the following week. Should Russell Martin's team see off Viktoria Plzen, they will face RB Salzburg or Club Brugge in the play-offs. Rangers would be at home in the first leg of that tie too. In the Europa League play-offs, Aberdeen will play either Romanian side FCSB — formerly Steaua Bucharest — or Kosovan club Drita. If Hibernian beat Partizan Belgrade in the third qualifying round of the Conference League they will face Cypriots AEK Larnaca or Legia Warsaw of Poland. Likewise, should Dundee United get past Rapid Vienna they will meet AIK Stockholm of Sweden or Hungarians ETO FC Gyor in the same competition. Rangers v Viktoria PlzenChampions League qualifying, third round, first legIbrox, 7.45pmRadio (not selected for TV coverage) BBC Radio Scotland
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Jakob Breum admits transfer could happen amid Celtic talk
This comes as Celtic remain in talks with the Dutch club over a deal for the Danish winger. However, it seems unlikely that the Scottish Premiership champions will secure a deal, as the Eredivisie side are unwilling to sell for less than £5 million. Celtic's latest bid was around £1.5 million. Breum, who played in Go Ahead's narrow defeat to PSV Eindhoven on Sunday, says his future remains uncertain after a successful debut season in the Netherlands. The 21-year-old told ESPN: "Time will tell. "There's still one month left, but as long as I'm here, I'll do my best. "It's a boring answer, but that's the way it is. "Now that important players have left, other players have to step up."
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Scottish Premiership: Hearts host Aberdeen in opening weekend's final game
Update: Date: 19:05 BST Title: LINE-UPS from Tynecastle Content: Hearts v Aberdeen (20:00 BST) Hearts: Clark, Borchgrevink, Kent, Halkett, Findlay, Milne, Devlin, McEntee, Spittal, Braga, Shankland. Substitutes: Fulton, Kingsley, Kabangu, Steinwender, Forrest, Wilson, Magnusson, Kartum, Kyziridis. Aberdeen: Mitov, Jensen, Milne, Knoester, Shinnie, Nilsen, Clarkson, Milanovic, Aouchiche, Keskinen, Yengi. Substitutes: Suman, Devlin, Polvara, Boyd, Palaversa, Sokler, Morris, Dorrington, Kjartansson. Update: Date: 19:00 BST Title: Monday night football Content: Hearts v Aberdeen (20:00 BST) Hello, good evening and welcome to Tynecastle. There's just one game left in the first round of Premiership fixtures for the new season and it's a belter. Derek McInnes' first league game in charge of Hearts against his old side Aberdeen. Kick-off is an hour away...
