Hearts’ statement after Celtic Park pitch invasion reeks of a sore loser mentality, and attempts to cover up their failings…
Hearts inflammatory statement yesterday isn't really reflective of events at Celtic Park after the game.
Eric Knott 
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - MAY 16: Hibernian fans with a flag mocking Hearts losing the league at Celtic during a William Hill Premiership match between Hibernian and Motherwell at Easter Road, on May 16, 2026, in Edinburgh, Scotland. (Photo by Rob Casey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
This morning, I should be writing an article celebrating what Celtic and Martin O’Neill achieved yesterday, and I will cover that in due course.
But I have to cover what happened in the aftermath of yesterday’s monumental title win.
The first thing I want to say is that I strongly condemn the pitch invasion that happened after Callum Osmand’s 3rd goal to clinch the title.
It shouldn’t have happened, it’s that simple.
Most Celtic fans will wholeheartedly admit that.
But there were a lot of acute emotions around Celtic Park yesterday.
For many people, this title win is up there as one of the best, and most sensational.
The emotions generated by that spilled over in the end – and yes – I understand that, I get it.
It’s hard to contain yourself in such a euphoric situation, and Celtic Park was fraught with euphoria when that 3rd goal went in.
But pitch invasions are a touchy subject in football, and we’d already had enough drama regarding them throughout this season.
Whether there will be repercussions from yesterday’s pitch invasion remains to be seen.
In the meantime, we’ll celebrate probably one of the most hard-fought titles I can ever recall in my four plus decades of supporting this club.
People will say Hearts were hard done by, and that Celtic didn’t deserve this title.
The fact that they were top of the table all season since last August and weren’t knocked off it until the 87th minute of play yesterday, in anyone’s language, is a sore one to take.
But that, unfortunately, is how it works.
The team with the most points on the board wins the League in the end.
And that team was Celtic.
How we got there doesn’t matter, the number we posted on that table, does.
82.
As this season headed towards its climax, Derek McInnes adopted a siege mentality.
In my view, it was that siege mentality that did for him and his side in the end.
Every opportunity he got, he stated that nobody wanted his side to win the League.
That everybody was out to get them.
But isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?
If Celtic were top of the table all season, wouldn’t everybody in the chasing pack be “out to get them”?
Isn’t that the whole idea of the competition?
What did Derek McInnes think?
That nobody wanted to knock them off their perch because they were top of the table all season?
Did he think that because it would be such a fairytale if Hearts won it that they deserved it, and nobody else did?
Hearts and McInnes thought they had it in the bag on Thursday night.
But as I said in yesterday’s pre-match article, it’s never in the bag, until it’s in the bag.
It was close to being in the bag for Hearts at half-time yesterday, but as I predicted yesterday too, Celtic would subject them to wave after wave of attacks late in the game until the dam broke.
That’s exactly what happened.
They succumbed to the incessant Celtic pressure – and conceded the late goal they knew they would never recover from – if it came.
Hearts weren’t hard done by.
Nobody was out to get them.
The SFA wasn’t trying to ensure that one of the Glasgow two won the League.
Hearts and Derek McIness just weren’t good enough in the end.
It’s really that simple.
McInnes, and everybody involved in Hearts will point to the penalty Celtic were given on Wednesday night as the reason they lost the title.
But a title isn’t decided on one penalty kick.
It is decided over the course of 38 games.
And in those 38 games this season, many controversial things happened.
Last Wednesday night’s penalty was one in a multitude of controversial decisions all season.
It did not decide this title.
Hearts had refereeing decisions that went for them, and against them, just as we did.
What decided this title was Martin O’Neill’s determination that his side were going to win their last 7 League games after the 2-0 defeat to Jim Goodwin’s Dundee United at Tannadice in March.
Celtic did exactly that.
In their last 7 games, Hearts and Derek McInnes dropped points at Almondvale and Fir Park, and ultimately, that is what decided their fate.
They just weren’t good enough on the home straight.
Their story is equivalent to that of the 10,000 metre runner who leads the race from the start until the final sprint, and he is caught by the runner who conserved his energy until it mattered most – on the home straight.
McInnes, however, proved that he is an extremely sore loser in the end.
So sore, that he got his players to leave Celtic Park without even showering and changing out of their match gear.
He decided to ignore his and his players after match media duties, and cited putting their safety first as the reason for their swift departure.
Below is a post with the statement Hearts released after the game.
Club statement: Events at Celtic Park
— Heart of Midlothian FC (@JamTarts) May 16, 2026
🔗 https://t.co/cnToHBofbr pic.twitter.com/85sfxkAN4U
So let me get this straight.
The Hearts players weren’t going to be safe in their dressing room inside Celtic Park, or in the media room either?
Who exactly was going to attack them in there that they feared so much for their safety?
Using the words “menacing and threatening” crossed a line for me.
As for reports of physical abuse?
We are yet to see footage of any Hearts player being physically abused.
Unhinged Shankland. https://t.co/b2Pvgvx14g pic.twitter.com/Wxm8Sn6stc
— Lint (@Zeshankenzo) May 16, 2026
The footage in that X post tells an entirely different story.
Maybe footage will emerge of Hearts players being assaulted, but I’ve yet to see it.
Let’s get real here.
Hearts didn’t leave the stadium because of a “menacing and threatening” atmosphere, they left because Derek McInnes was seething that he’d lost the title in the fashion he did.
You could see from his histrionics on the touchline throughout the game that he was getting more and more wound up.
His whole “everyone’s out to get us attitude” was there for all to see.
Although I doubt the below banner didn’t help his state of mind much either!
In the end, it was all too much for him, so he dragged his whole team out of Celtic Park under the pretence that it was “menacing and threatening”.
To cover up his and their failings, Hearts then released a statement that – as far I’m concerned – crossed the line with its inflammatory language.
Yes, the Celtic fans should not have invaded the pitch.
And if any Hearts player was assaulted, then there should be repercussions for that.
Social media is awash with videos of the aftermath of the game.
One even shows the Hearts players leaving Celtic Park while being serenaded to “Champions Again” by the Celtic fans.
But not one video shows a Hearts player being physically assaulted.
Yes, I’ve no doubt they were verbally abused, but no different to the way verbal abuse towards opposition players flows from the stands in any game.
Football players are big boys, they hear that stuff day in, day out, on the football field.
From players and fans alike.
Football players are thick skinned, they need to be in the environment they play in.
The bottom line here is that Hearts and Derek McInnes are reeling because they blew this.
Their statement was released in the same fashion as statement o’clock from their bigger calorie cousins.
Who consistently release statements to cover up for their failings too.
I’m sure we haven’t heard or seen the end of yesterday’s events.
But I’m equally sure its aftermath won’t produce the drama Hearts are hoping for.
Hearts go on about Hibs Hibsing it, well they well and truly Heartsed it yesterday.
The irony in all of that is that the only other fans in Scotland celebrating that are Hibernian fans.
In the end, the better team won.
82 points.
The table doesn’t lie.
Aodhán Ó Conchobhair 
Correct in everything you said, Eric , I’ve watched numerous videos & clips and I’ve yet to see a Hearts player being assaulted, if it’s true then let the Law take care of it , if no evidence is found then Celtic should condemn Hearts & their owners for the disgraceful statement they have put out , one clip I watched showed the players leaving Celtic park and entering the team bus , fans around where singing champions again , they calmly walked onto the bus & the bus drove away , no damage was made to the team bus , & the driver was not blocked from driving away, once again the media has taken this opportunity to have a dig at Celtic & their fans . HH next year we go again 💚
Hearts such paragons of virtue , mcinnes singing sectarian songs with such gusto ,yet they are so sensitive, how many celtic players and managers have been attacked and nothing done about , our standards slipped this season but with Martin O’Neil at the helm next season that will never happen again
There is no excuse for invading the pitch and I am getting pretty pissed off at those who think that this is acceptable. It’s not. NEVER. Your embarrassing your fellow supporters and giving others the opportunity to further their own agenda. Today should be about us and how we won the league instead the vitriol is aimed at us because the pitch invaders or maybe we should call them the space invaders have made it so. The jam tarts are very sore losers but unfortunately, we have given them a platform to deflect from the fact that they are the losers and weren’t good enough in the end. HH
The pitch invasion was done at the wrong time, it was inevitable that it would have happened at the final whistle, I’m not condoning it but the euphoria of the moment was too much for a lot of people. As for the hearts statement about intimidation , threats and the like ,I’ve watched numerous clips on sky , bbc and u tube and all I’ve seen is Shankland go for a Celtic fan ( who should never have been on the pitch ) and a hearts defender challenge a Celtic fan to a fight as he was going up the tunnel. They came to Celtic Park expecting to crowned champions and left in a serious huff with their tails between their legs . Well done to Martin and the bhoys .
Euphoria was too much for some people. NO. Stevie c I completely disagree with you on this point. We were all in the same mindset but we didn’t all run on the park. You continued then to say what the media is saying. Well surprise, surprise who gave them that narrative. We did. Is about time this should be discussed because all these over excited fans are doing is damaging cfc. If they can’t control themselves then I don’t want them in the stadium.
The euphoria WAS too much for some people , like I said I don’t condone the pitch invasion but football is a passionate game for some of us and your emotions can get the better of you . Anyway you were probably congratulating the board on a Job well done .
Hearts had always intended to leave straight away, they wanted to be presented with the trophy at Tynecastle. That of course doesn’t excuse the Celtic supporters who ran onto the pitch, as it gives them an excuse to whine.
They have a sense of entitlement [but not league title] and as for the assumption that celtic would roll over , the ended where they dhould have lose rs ,just like their brothers the ragers
Just about every hack , pundit and ex player I hate showing how puked out they are that we won the title
I say keep them coming it’s glorious
Sooner or later this was going to blow up in our faces. Celtic have ignored this behaviour for far too long now. Everyone knows that Robertson took the easy way out and said he blew for time. If we had scored even a minute earlier he wouldn’t have been able to do that – and please don’t try to say the pitch invasion wouldn’t have happened in that case. This isn’t going away and we could still pay a heavy price, such as a stand closure.
As for Hearts and McInnes, their statement was deranged! It gives Sevco a run for their money it’s so batshit. I can’t help feeling that McInnes was the driving force behind it. I think he threw a complete tantrum behind the scenes at Celtic Park and ordered the team straight onto the bus in a fit of rage, then tried to cover it up with the intimidation bullshit. I wonder how Tony Bloom feels about in the light of day. We all know that McInnes is not a great manager no matter what his buddies in the media try to spin. It might seem strange but I’ve a feeling that Bloom might be of the opinion that McInnes has actually underperformed this season. He played very few of the Jamestown signings, mainly because they didn’t suit McInnes’s hoofball style. Will Bloom want to invest money for more players that McInnes won’t select? He might see JBA as a much better fit. He might see a chance to offload him to Sevco, never mind Sausage Rohl getting the dreaded vote of confidence.
Now Celtic have released a statement. It’s what you would expect regarding the pitch invasion but it’s piss poor on McInnes’s hysterical accusations. I can’t say I’m shocked.
Eric, Hearts didn’t lose the league because we got a penalty against Motherwell they lost it because they dropped points to Livingston, Kilmarnock, St Mirren and Motherwell and we got more points than them. The way they left the stadium in full kit and boots and no showers is because of their manager and his lack of class and dignity. The worst thing they done was be arrogant enough to come to Celtic Park and play for a draw, that played right into our hands as we could keep going at them until they eventually broke. If they’d tried to win they probably would’ve been champions and that’s why McInness will never be an elite manager because he’s a perennial loser and someone who can never ever give any Celtic side credit because he’s a bigoted little man. Our supporters should never have entered the pitch to give them the ammunition to call for a replayed game or points deductions, Don Robertson said he’d blown his whistle for full time so the game can’t be replayed as the ref confirmed it was over, therefore, the game wasn’t abandoned and if it had been Hearts could’ve been awarded a 3-0 victory so the game was won on the pitch. When Callum Osmand put the ball in the net it was 97 minutes and 30 seconds on the clock, the injury time was 8 minutes so with the best will in the world Hearts weren’t going to score two goals in 30 seconds. The furore around the pitch invasion is being hyped up because everyone hates Celtic and wanted us to lose the title, for them Hearts was the fairytale result, crowned champions for the first time in 66 years. This was the best chance any team had of winning the league because of the turmoil and negligence of the Celtic board and the unprecedented injuries we’ve had too but despite all of that we still came through and ended up with more points than all the other teams and that’s why we’re champions again. I’ll admit I never thought we’d win anything this year and had given up the ghost after the Dundee United game but I should’ve known better than to write us off but having said that the club’s still in turmoil and this is only papering over the cracks, this club still needs gutted from top to bottom. I had a great weekend and hopefully we’ll do the double next weekend where the pupil takes on the teacher HH