They could finish second this season with a little luck, they said.
Fans of Heart of Midlothian might interpret Saturday’s 3-0 victory over Kilmarnock as downplaying their chances, given that Celtic are currently five points clear of Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
However, Steven Naismith, one of his predecessors as head coach, was at least willing to suggest they could split the Old Firm, in contrast to the former Kilmarnock boss himself who insisted “no-one is getting carried away” with ideas of challenging for the title.
After Celtic take on struggling Dundee on Sunday, Celtic will be the favorites to close the gap, but Hearts’ victory at Rugby Park guarantees they will be at least two points clear heading into their next game, which will be at home to the reigning champions.
Hearts are already 13 points ahead of the team expected to be Celtic’s main rivals with the result of managerless Rangers being held to a draw at home to Dundee United.
The squad inherited from Neil Critchley was resurrected thanks to investment from Tony Bloom and the Brighton &, Hove Albion owner’s football analytics division, and the results are impressive.
This season, they have won 11 of their 13 games in all competitions, with the Premier Sports Cup penalty shootout being the only result.
Hearts have scored 19 goals in eight league games, which is five more than Dundee United, the next most successful club.
The only other team with a slightly higher expected goals rate has also had the highest number of goal attempts, most on target, and highest conversion rate.
More than any other Premiership team this season, Hearts have scored at least once in each of their eight league games.
Ivan Dolcek and Claudio Braga, their summer signing from Aalesunds, are both top scorers, with one more coming against Kilmarnock.
Since joining from equally unfashionable Slovak club Zemplin Michalovce, winger Alexandros Kyziridis has four assists in the Premiership this season, more than any other player.
Only bottom side Livingston has won more duels, while Hearts are tied with Celtic with five clean sheets, despite having won one more game.
Indeed, they have played four straight games and played 471 minutes without conceding, which is their longest streak since December and January 2018.
No wonder Hearts fans, who were almost 4000 when they traveled to Ayrshire, unfurled a banner that read, “In Dell we trust.”
McInnes himself quickly pointed out to BBC Scotland that the victory at “a notoriously difficult venue” was “really pleased” and that “it was far from that.”
“I thought Kilmarnock had the better start between 15-20 minutes.”
“I believed we were guilty of allowing too many fouls, not looking after the first pass, being poor with our clearances, and provoking a little pressure,” he said.
However, he believed Braga and fellow striker Lawrence Shankland “linked the play brilliantly and dovetailed brilliantly” after he urged his side to be “less frantic” after the break and that their team had settled after Craig Halkett’s opener.
We are scoring a lot of goals, according to McInnes, who believes Lawrence has seven in all competitions.
“I believe that he is shouldering some of the load and distributing the load.” We should be considering scoring more goals with the sets plays we’ve had, both with inswingers and outswingers, and with our size and aggression.
It’s important to acknowledge that the team has room for improvement, even though I enjoy watching them.
McInnes says “we can be a little satisfied with our work,” despite not having any plans to attend Celtic on Sunday.
He predicted that the Celtic game would handle itself in terms of the motivation and the atmosphere during the build-up.
Naismith believes that Hearts keeps growing stronger week by week.
He claimed that earlier in the season, Hearts’ success did not come from impressive performances.
Motherwell played them off the park for 60 minutes, and they were winning in various ways, according to the statement.
“But the derby game wasn’t a pleasant watch in the final few performances, but their performances are getting better and better.”
The forward players make the right decisions at the right moments, which was the case with the second and third goals tonight.
Performances aside, this was not a 3-0 game. Giving Hearts opportunities was due to their own mistakes and poor quality, which Kilmarnock snatched out.
Naismith cited McInnes’ depth of squad.
When the window closed, he said, “You might have thought the squad was too big, but I don’t believe you could have a better manager to handle that,” he said.
I believe the guys on the pitch are demonstrating that they are not bringing the team out of the bench and that they are hungry. They now have match winners on their team, which is the real change.
What makes it possible that Hearts are now the least likely team to finish second?
Although I wouldn’t say they are favorites, Naismith predicted that they could finish second this season with a little luck.
It will be a three-horse race in the upcoming seasons.
They will gradually deviate from the best of the rest as the seasons progress, and the gap will keep closing.
Because of the evidence, they are making the signings of men who are untapped and at least minimal risk. Additionally, they have a growing fan base. That’s why the moment is so exciting.
What are the chances of this season’s title challenge?
Naismith added that if they arrive in January and are still in the mix, they might need reinforcements.
Lando Norris, who is the reigning champion of the Grand Prix of the United States, was beaten by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in sixth place.
Even though Verstappen, the world champion, was unable to complete a final run in qualifying, neither of the McLaren drivers were able to challenge him earlier on Saturday.
Verstappen won the race by 0.291 seconds, but Verstappen was too late to maneuver in time to start the final lap before the chequered flag.
It was a fantastic performance that highlighted McLaren’s concern for his future in the drivers’ championship.
In a challenging session, Norris saved his best for last, tying Charles Leclerc with Ferrari for second place, just 0.006secs.
Verstappen is 55 points clear of Piastri in the grand prix, while Norris is 22 points adrift.
Verstappen, who won every qualifying session, said: “Each segment was very strong, and putting the lap together around here is very challenging.
“Good” was the first run of Q3. Just managed to slightly improve on Q2 . We didn’t need it for our final run, which was a little messy due to the out laps, but thankfully we didn’t need it.
According to Norris, “It was a little more of a struggle today, for whatever reason,” but yesterday was still quite peaceful.
“I’m not sure if the wind or other people’s performance has improved.” And catching up with this guy was a little more difficult. Today, there was no chance we could get pole.
I anticipate a successful race with Max. In the past, there have been some positive ones.
Leclerc’s first qualifying run was a spin out of the last corner, and he had no expectation of a lap of this caliber on his final attempt.
Piastri, who placed third overall in the sprint, never looked quick during qualifying.
He said, “Just a tricky session, didn’t feel particularly comfortable out there, and the lap times show (it).” However, there will be a lot of action in tomorrow’s race, so make up some ground.
“The car was a little unpredictably,” the author said. For the positions that were in my path, it was very tight. What should I try to look at first?
Russell placed third in the sprint because of his grid position, and Hamilton was only 0.105secs ahead of Leclerc, who placed the Ferrari fifth.
The seven-time world champion noted that, in comparison to yesterday, things had a little improved. Throughout the entire qualifying period, the car wasn’t quite right. I was gradually adding wings as I went along with my massive understeer.
It eventually improved, but it’s almost too late to regain that confidence. It’s a real step forward to be third and fifth.
Kimi Antonelli placed second behind Piastri, while Oliver Bearman placed eighth behind Carlos Sainz and Fernando Alonso for best of the rest.
1. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen
2. McLaren’s Lando Norris
3. (Ferrari) Charles Leclerc
4. George Russell (Mercedes)
5. Robert Hamilton (Ferrari)
6. McLaren’s Oscar Piastri
7. (Mercedes) Kimi Antonelli
8. Has Has Oliver Bearman (Haas)
9. Williams vs. Carlos Sainz
10. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso
Grand Prix of the United States
Published On 18 Oct 2025
Babic’s appointment was confirmed on Saturday by the Republika Srpska parliament, which stated that she would remain in office until November 23’s early presidential elections.
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Additionally, Dodik’s separatist laws, which challenged the authority of a foreign envoy and Bosnia’s constitutional court, were overturned by the legislature.
Dodik, a pro-Russian nationalist who has pushed for Serbian independence, refused to step down from office despite being banned politically. He has continued to seek presidential approval while challenging the court’s decision.
He publicly praised the US Department of the Treasury’s decision to remove four Dodik allies from its list of sanctions on Friday as part of his campaign to have them removed.
Dodik’s actions are currently being investigated by the United States, the UK, and several European governments for allegedly violating the 1992–1995 Dayton Peace Agreement.
Following an appeals court ruling that placed him in jail for a year and made him unfit for a six-year term in political office, Bosnia’s electoral authorities in August removed him from office.
A rule that mandates the removal of any elected official serving more than six months in prison was applied by the Central Electoral Commission.
Dodik was found guilty in Sarajevo in February after the international envoy, Christian Schmidt, who oversees the Dayton accords’ implementation, refused to follow the judgments of the court.
Dodik later refrained from supporting the ruling, saying that he would continue to be in power as long as the Bosnian-Serb parliament, which his allies control, was supported. The Republika Srpska government characterized the decision as “unconstitutional and politically motivated.”
Dodik continues to enjoy strong support from regional allies, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic. He has repeatedly threatened to break up Bosnia, causing fear in Bosniak communities and stifling previous US administrations.
The US-brokered Dayton Accords, which put an end to a devastating war that claimed about 100, 000 lives, continue to govern Bosnia. Republika Srpska and the Bosniak-Croat Federation have each shared national institutions, including the presidency, military, judiciary, and taxation system, as a result of the agreement.
