Data Meets the Highlands: How Tony Bloom Is Revolutionising Scottish Football

Heart of Midlothian's Statistical Dominace of the Scottish Prem

The final whistle blew at Rugby Park, and Derek McInnes’ relieved smile told the whole story. The Hearts team that he began coaching this summer had thumped his former club, Kilmarnock, 3-0 on their own patch.

The headlines wrote themselves, ‘Hearts go five points clear at the top of the Premiership’ were words that would’ve had you sent to a psych ward five years ago. The club was relegated from the top flight in 2019/20, having mustered four wins. That season rounded off a torrid decade for Hearts, which had seen them relegated for the first time in over 30 years back in 2014 after spending a year in administration.

As the beating pulse of Scotland’s capital, in a world where Glasgow dominates Edinburgh, something had to change. Heart of Midlothian had to become the force they’ve always promised to be at Tynecastle Park.

📝 List of unbeaten teams in the Scottish Premiership, Championship, League One & Two:

🇱🇻 Heart of Midlothian FC

End of list 😏 pic.twitter.com/htgxMLv0Z6

— Adam | Gorgie Talk (@GorgieTalk) October 20, 2025

Hope Blooms in West Edinburgh

“I firmly believe in the club's Hearts ability to disrupt the pattern of domination of Scottish football which has been in place for far too long.”

Tony Bloom made a statement when he purchased a 29% stake in the capital club four months ago, ahead of the 2025/26 campaign. Whilst the club continues to be majorly owned by the ‘Foundation of Hearts’ - the crucial group of fans who saved the club from liquidation in recent history - Bloom’s influence is already evident, as the club has cemented itself in a two-horse race for the Premiership title instantly.

An Analytical Match

It made complete sense for Bloom to bring his South Coast cash to Edinburgh as Hearts were already using Jamestown Analytics to help with their recruitment. Jamestown is a football data company that has a commercial relationship with Bloom and his own betting consultancy business, Starlizard, which uses their data to produce figures relevant to football.

Jamestown Analytics have been quoted as the most effective and influential data company operating in football right now. The Camden-based enterprise is careful not to reveal its methods as a way of protecting its success. They work closely with the clubs they partner with, like Hearts, Brighton, USG, and Como, to conduct squad appraisals before giving the club their desires by searching through their global database to create a shortlist of hidden gems that are seething with potential.

And this is why you back Tony Bloom…

(Which by default surely includes his choice of head coach)

And what’s happening in Scotland won’t be a flash in the pan.

They’ve made some incredible transfers already, but I don’t think we’ve seen the full culmination of his recruitment… pic.twitter.com/3UpISBOJAk

— Brightonian (@Brightonian_) October 19, 2025

Jamestown have access to all the information on every player who has played over 3,000 minutes from any league in the world; therefore, it comes as no surprise that James Franks and club CEO Andrew McKinlay have already overseen multiple season-defining transfers in Edinburgh this summer. Franks is Bloom’s representative on the Hearts’ board, which makes him even more important than the Brighton bettor, as he is involved with the club on a day-to-day basis.

The Heroes of a New Era

Due to Jamestown’s selectiveness, only a few clubs benefit from their mysterious research revolution that can transform a team with a shoestring budget. That factor makes Hearts an extremely lucky recipient of their data.

The new age started with the appointment of Derek McInnes, yes its not only players recruited by analytics, its the managers too. Hearts wanted a man who knew the Scottish game well, but also displayed the potential to lead the team to new heights.

Whether on the banks of the River Tay at St. Johnstone, down in the South West with Kilmarnock or in the North Eastern Aberdeen, McInnes has coached over 700 matches in his native Scotland, and has started life at Hearts in enigmatic form.

The affectionately nicknamed ‘Jam Tarts’ signed 11 players during the first transfer window since the Bloom cash influx began. Only one of those was a Scot, and despite the club's claims that they want to maintain a homeland heart, it's clear that their scouting methods take them away from Great Britain and far, far, further afield.

The 11 new men came from 11 different leagues across nine nations, including the:

• Norwegian Eliteserien and OBOS-ligaen
• Liga Portugal
• Belgian Pro League
• Italian Serie C
• German Bundesliga
• Slovakian Nike Liga
• English Championship and League Two
• Estonian Premium Liiga
• Icelandic Besta deild

This colourful and diverse recruitment pattern has produced some breakthrough names this season. The first of those is Claudio Braga, an eccentric footballer from the North of Portugal who was plucked from the second tier of Norway, where he had spent the last three seasons playing.

13 games.
8 goals.
Joint-top Premiership scorer.

Claudio Braga 👏 pic.twitter.com/0DQLTQiYjy

— Heart of Midlothian FC (@JamTarts) October 18, 2025

The 25-year-old is the perfect example of a player who would’ve gone completely under the radar had it not been for Jamestown’s thorough methods. The forward has 10 goal contributions in 13 games for Hearts in all competitions, and if his form continues, he could well be on course for the Premiership Golden Boot.

Braga is joined in attack by Alexandros Kyzirdis, a spice of Greek flair on the left wing. Kyzirdis, like his Portuguese teammate, is also 25 years of age and is yet another late-bloomer who had not been given a chance to shine as of yet. It’s been half a decade since Kyzirdis last played in his homeland; since then, he has gone on to ply his trade in Slovakia, Slovenia, and Hungary.

Since heading to Tynecastle, the Greek has nine goal contributions in 11 games, including a wonderstrike against Falkirk last month.

💥 In Scotland, Alexandros Kyziridis did this for Hearts

OUT OF THIS WORLD! 🚀

🇬🇷⚽pic.twitter.com/VzbjA48WZt

— Hellas Football (@HellasFooty) September 29, 2025

The Midlothian team behind the scenes have also improved drastically at the back. Alexander Schwolow had spent the last two years as a backup keeper at Union Berlin. At 33, he left Germany for the first time in his career this summer, having racked up over 200 Bundesliga appearances.

Schwolow is yet to concede a goal since he made his debut against Rangers just over a month ago, a truly dominant force between the Hearts sticks.

🧤 The first Hearts goalkeeper to keep four clean sheets in his first four matches for the Club.

𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐰𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐰 👏 pic.twitter.com/SX4FFr0rr6

— Heart of Midlothian FC (@JamTarts) October 18, 2025

It was a record summer for the Scottish title contenders, as the club broke their transfer record on Brazilian midfielder Ageu, paying a substantial seven-figure fee to Portuguese island outfit, Santa Clara. The Jambos have spent well over £2 million since Bloom’s stake purchase, which may seem a minuscule amount in comparison to fellow European competitors; however, it is a pretty penny compared to the rest of the league outside of the Old Firm, Aberdeen, and Hibernian, who hardly spent a penny on transfer fees combined.

The nation of Scotland might be small, but its love for the beautiful game is above and beyond. England’s Northern neighbours have been crying out for a challenger to take on the duo of Glaswegian giants for decades, and finally, the tide is beginning to turn, partly thanks to Bloom, Franks, and Jamestown Analytics.

The world of figures and statistics now dominates the hiring and firing in football, as we have recently seen with Union Saint-Gilloise’s rise to the Champions League. Heart of Midlothian have been on the cusp of domestic greatness for a few years, and this campaign, their dreams appear to be within reach after decades of torment.