The Edinburgh Reporter October 2025

22 SPORT

Ian Jacobs

Picture: Nigel Duncan

Picture: Ian Jacobs

By NIGEL DUNCAN

DEREK McINNES LIFTED THE LID, slightly, on the

analytics which he is using to build his new-look

squad at Heart of Midlothian FC.

The club’s head coach admitted to being curious

about how the Jamestown system works when he

took the top job at Tynecastle.

It is a highly-secretive company run by Brighton

and Hove Albion chairman Tony Bloom, who recently

invested £10m in the Jambos.

McInnes, who admitted he was

naturally inquisitive about the

parameters of the system when he

first arrived, has been gleaning

information from the data-driven

insights it has provided.

Graeme Jones, Hearts sporting

director, gave an overview of the

fine detail and McInnes revealed: “I

was encouraged by that, and excited

by that.”

The 54-year-old former Scotland

international said that for any club,

in normal circumstances in days

gone by, the manager was offered a

player and he and his recruitment

staff would spend hours watching clips.

McInnes confirmed: “We are no longer doing that

now as a staff. These players are now getting

watched. I do not know how many minutes they look

at for every player, but every game they play is being

watched, players are watched, analysed, marked and

judged.

“We (the coaching staff ) say we are looking for this

type of profile and they (the analysts) spit out four or

five options for us to look at.” Hearts, he stressed,

have not signed everybody that has been proposed

to the club, and McInnes said there are a few who

they have “moved away from quite quickly”.

That, he underlined, is not because they are not

good players. He added: “They are clearly all good

players, however, a lot of these players come from

leagues that you probably would not have been

looking at.

“Jamestown have the benefit and the confidence

that they are sourcing them early. Players are

watched and it is up to us (the coaching staff ) to try

and make those footballers better

and up to us to validate that kind of

confidence.”

The former Aberdeen and

Kilmarnock boss added: “When you

sign a player you always want to

make them work, and not all of the

players are going to work for

different reasons.

But I do think we all take

confidence from the fact that a lot of

the work normally managers and

staff have to go through has all been

done (by Jamestown).

“We are just getting in at that end

point.” The Gorgie playcaller said that when you

watch a player you right away know there is a good

player here and he said: “We can all sit in a room,

watch the clips and we don’t speak when we are

watching, but we say: ‘What a player he is.’ You get a

feeling.

“Having other people do the work on the players

that are being proposed to you gives you added

security, I suppose, an endorsement, because,

normally it is just my decision or the staff decision.”

Players are

watched and it

is up to us to

make those

footballers

better

“

“

Scouting for talent

the Jamestown way

Hearts boss Derek McInnes

Former Hibs’ chairman David Duff tells the

inside story of the plot to destroy Hibernian

By JOHN HISLOP
THIRTY-FIVE YEARS after
Wallace Mercer’s unsuccessful
attempt to destroy Hibernian and
make Edinburgh a one city club,
former Hibs chairman David Duff
has finally told the explosive inside
story of the plot and the real
motivations of those behind it.
Although Mercer claimed his
deal would see a merger of the two
clubs, everyone knew that their
name would be Heart of
Midlothian, they would play at
Tynecastle Park AND wear maroon.
With internal shareholders
wanting to sell out, the end
seemed inevitable.
But Duff had other ideas. Joining
forces with outraged fans he
spearheaded boardroom
resistance against this takeover.
A ‘Hands off Hibs’ rally was
quickly organised and although
under no obligation to do so, Duff
handed over the keys of Easter
Road Stadium to facilitate the
event which was attended by
thousands of supporters.
Eventually a ‘white knight’ was
found, and Kwik-Fit owner and
entrepreneur Tom Farmer was
widely credited for saving the club
for the people of Leith. But is that
the whole story?
Now for the first time, Farmer’s
true involvement is put under the
microscope.
Sunset on Hibs – The Plot to
Destroy Hibernian is jointly
written by Duff and acclaimed
sportswriter Ewan Flynn with a
foreword by journalist and Hibs fan
Simon Pia who pulls no punches.
The book covers Duff ’s
acquisition of the club he loved,
along with his brother in law Jim
Gray, the highs and lows on and off
the pitch, the share issue, European
football, plans to move from Easter
Road to Straiton, followed by
Mercers bid followed by the
aftermath.
Duff told The Edinburgh
Reporter: “The book was a long
time in the making. I actually
started during lockdown for an
hour every day.
“I wasn’t sure at first whether to
rerun everything but decided that
it was time to set the record
straight by telling what really
happened all these years ago.
“Despite everything I’d like to say
at the outset that I have no
animosity toward either Wallace
Mercer or Tom Farmer.
“Both were businessmen and
not football supporters. I was a

football fan first and just wanted to

build a successful team. But to be

fair, Tom was instrumental in

steadying the club. He didn’t do

things that I would have done but

I’m not saying he was a villain in

the story because he wasn’t.

“And if the fans want to hail Tom

Farmer as the club’s saviour then so

be it, but for me there are far more

worthy heroes who wear green

and white to Easter Road every

other Satuday.”

So after all these years does he

have any regrets?

“Regrets? How could a boy from

Leith regret becoming chairman of

Hibs? I’ll never regret not selling

my shares in the club, even though

I’d have made a lot of money and

honestly, if I had to make the same

choice again today I still wouldn’t

sell, at any price.

“I have such wonderful

memories and so many highlights

of my time there. Getting John

Collins to sign a new contract

when everyone thought he was

leaving is one. Beating Videoton

3-0 in Hungary is another.

“Then there was Gordon Rae’s

testimonial when Manchester

United managed by Alex Ferguson

visited Easter Road and

interestingly at the testimonial

dinner The Proclaimers played 500

Miles for the first time live.

“But signing Stevie Archibald

from Barcelona and being at

Tynecastle when he scored ‘that’

goal probably tops everything.

“It was quite emotional looking

back as I was a big pal of Andy

Goram and Peter Cormack, both of

whom are sadly no longer with us.

“Peter was my hero on the pitch,

and they say you should never

meet your heroes but that wasn’t

the case with him.”

Co-author Ewan Flynn added:

“My dad’s from Warriston and I

used to spend the summers in

Edinburgh so I’d have been about

eight when all this happened.

“It’s such an amazing story with

so many layers. In 2020 I

interviewed David (Duff ) for an

article in When Saturday Comes

but there is only so much you can

fit into 1,000 words.

“He said he had always wanted

to tell his story and put his side on

the record because he was

damaged pretty badly by the

event.

“I think he’s been open about his

mistakes particularly involving

David Rowland and he has carried

that bundle ever since, but he

genuinely cared about the club.”

The club that

would not die

Image: Malcolm Mackenzie / Hearts FC