Hearts continue to answer as title race edges towards conclusion
Derek McInnes believes anyone questioning his side’s mentality, “hasn’t been watching”, as Hearts turn their attention to Fir Park on Saturday evening. Hearts sit on the edge of immortality, aiming to break the Old Firm’s domestic dominance for the first time since 1985, but McInnes insists his only focus is Motherwell, who will pose another test for his side. “We can’t get obsessed with all the different connotations and what happens there if we win that one and they win that one, “They haven’t beaten us this season, but they’ve been problematic for most teams. In all three games they could have beaten us, but we’ve managed to do our job well enough for long enough in all the games to pick up points.” Hearts came from a goal down on Monday evening, delivering a haymaker blow to Rangers’ title charge. McInnes’ lauded his side’s consistent ability to manage the expectations in Gorgie. “It goes without saying, regardless of how this season plays out, you don’t, at Hearts, get to 76 points with three games to go if you’ve not got a good mentality, because there’s pressures at this club that you need to deal with. “There’s an insistence on winning games here and an expectation, so the players have answered that time and time again.” “Normally, days off can be a chance to switch off, but with the greatest will in the world, it’s hard to do that at the minute, particularly because there’s not many training days now.” A pivotal ten days await the Jambos, with trips to Fir Park and Parkhead sandwiched between Falkirk’s visit to Tynecastle. McInnes’ side will no doubt continue to relish their title challenge. “Now we’re going to have three games in a week that, for all we’ve done, will decide how it all plays out.”
Marvin Bartley departs already relegated Livingston.
Marvin Bartley has departed Livingston as he feels he had ‘no option’ following relegation to the Championship. Bartley took the manager role at the start of the year after moving from the assistant to manager as former boss, David Martindale stepped down to take up a role as sporting director. Livingston announced their relegation from the Scottish Premiership as results on Saturday didn’t go their way with Kilmarnock cruising to a 3-0 win over Dundee United which now see’s Scott Arfield take charge for the final three fixtures for Livingston. Bartley after speaking on X: “Ultimately, this decision comes following a conversation on Monday where the position that had previously been outlined to us changed considerably. “Following the Motherwell game on 31 January, I was asked to take on the role and initially declined given the circumstances at the time. “After further conversations, I agreed to do so based on assurances around stability and the opportunity to lead the club into next season should relegation happen. “For that reason, it came as a major surprise to later be informed that Neil and I would need to reapply for our positions as part of a new process being introduced by the club. “We don’t feel that the situation we agreed to take on, and the one now being presented, are the same. As a result, we feel stepping away is the right direction for us both.” Martindale who was in charge for the first-half of the campaign in which joined the club back in 2014 and took the manager role six-years-ago, guided Livingston to the top-flight after defeating Partick Thistle in the play-offs back in 2018. Livi spent six- years in the top division before returning to the Championship where they’d find themselves return on the first time of asking, defeating Ross County in the play-offs to return to the Premiership. This campaign hasn’t went as planned with so far, just two wins all season which saw a win over Falkirk on matchday two with most recently, a 2-0 away win against St Mirren. Bartley has been in charge for 11 games which of course picked up the second win of the season for the Lothian side, defeating St Mirren 2-0 in Paisley with his last game in charge being their Friday night showdown, drawing 2-2 with Aberdeen and despite the point, they were still relegated with relegation rivals, Kilmarnock picking up three points. Bartley looks onwards in his career after a slight improvement in performances. “We took over a group that was in an extremely difficult position with a short period of time to try and turn things around,” he added. “While results ultimately haven’t been enough to keep the club in the division, we believe there were clear improvements in performances, competitiveness and spirit across the 11 games.”
Stephen Robinson explores the option of keeping Olusanya permanently
Aberdeen boss, Stephen Robinson is keen to keep striker Olusanya at Pittodrie following his loan spell. Robinson is keen to keep Olusanya at Pittodrie who originally joined Aberdeen on loan from MLS outfit, Houston Dynamo who is out-of-contract with the American side this summer. Robinson coached Olusanya back during their St Mirren days where the ex-St Mirren coach is a big admirer of the forward. Olusanya joined the Dons on loan in January from the MLS in which he previously had a loan spell with Doncaster Rovers at the beginning of this season failing to make an impact down south. The Englishman has featured 15 times in red failing to pick up a single goal with just one assist to his name – despite the stats, Robinson is clearly hopeful of keeping Olusanya in the North-East. Olusanya was a key player during their St Mirren days netting 12 times in 38 during 2024/25 for the Buddies as Robinson see’s the striker as a key player. Robinson states he is very keen in keeping him next season as he is hoping to sign consistent performers over ‘big’ names. Robinson on keeping Olusanya at Aberdeen: Robinson confirmed: “Certainly we will. I believe the American club has got an option to extend it, but it’s something that we’ll be looking at and actively discussing.” “You know, there’s lots of names being bandied about, and we just need to, first and foremost, get safe. I’ve let other people look at that in the background and advise me. “I was going to say once a week, but it’s probably every couple of hours, advising me where we are.” “I was going to say once a week, but it’s probably every couple of hours, advising me where we are.” Robinson is happy by Olusanya’s overall play but says the only missing part is a goal which he believes he will get eventually. The former St Mirren boss said: The Dons boss claimed: “He’s doing everything but scoring a goal at the moment, and if you ask any defender in the league, they hate playing against him. “He’s a huge threat. He’s involved in so many things good that we do, and I’ve worked with him, obviously, previously, and he’s a super boy. “He is infectious around the place. When you come into a changing room, that’s not won games. “One win in 16 when I took over and there are people feeling sorry for themselves. You get the little groups gathered together. “But Toyi is a different breed. He’s just happy all the time. He trains every day wood, and his teammates really, really like him, so he brings a positivity. “On the pitch, he’s one of the quickest players I’ve ever worked with. If we can just add the goals to his game, then he’s a real, real threat, which he’s shown in the other parts of his game.” Stephen Robinson also thinks that Olusanya doesn’t suit the MLS and believes the Scottish Premiership is the right place for him to play his best football. He added: “Yes, I think when I first came in, he wasn’t. He’d been in America for a year and hadn’t played a lot of football. It was a different style of football. “It was 40-odd degrees in Texas, and probably didn’t suit Toi’s game, if the truth be told. Toi’s a runner. He gets down the side of people and hurts people. “We’ve taken a little while to get him up to that fitness level, but like we’d done with Afeez, we stuck with him to get the game time in. I’m starting to see real good traits in him and Kevin forming a really good partnership.” Robinson is also keen on bringing Liam Morrison back from QPR for next season following his loan spell in Scotland. Striker pairing, Kusini Yengi and Peter Ambrose are both set to return from disappointing loan spells. Graeme Shinnie could be on his way out with no sign of any contact extension yet with a return to Inverness being possible following their promotion to the Championship.
A Costly Weekend for Nuno Espirito Santo as Relegation Looms Over West Ham
West Ham’s survival hopes take a huge blow as Spurs climb out of the bottom three, putting the Hammers back in amongst it. After a 3-0 defeat and a poor showing in west London against Keith Andrews’ European-chasing Brentford, the Hammers turned to their claret and blue counterparts, Aston Villa, hoping for a favour as Villa hosted Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday night. That was not meant to be for West Ham, as Villa Manager Unai Emery heavily rotated his starting eleven against Spurs, as their Europa League semi-final second leg against Nottingham Forest looks to be the Spaniard’s main priority. Newly appointed Spurs manager Roberto De Zerbi took full advantage of this, as Spurs jumped into a quick 2-0 first-half lead, and they never looked back as the Lilywhites went on to win 2-1, securing only their second win of 2026. As for the Hammers, they now drop back into the relegation zone in 18th place, a single point behind Spurs in 17th. Nuno’s thoughts Nuno Espirito Santo had this to say after his side’s 3-0 defeat to Brentford. “Yeah, it’s going to be a big challenge for all of us, the impact of this tough day.” “But that’s what I said to the boys, let’s keep together, let’s realise it’s how we react from a bad day like today, that’s going to keep us alive in the fight.” “Two home games, we have to stick together, everybody bring the energy next week, and hopefully we can get a better performance and result.” Up next for the irons is current league leaders and Champions League finalists Arsenal, who are on the cusp of winning their first Premier League title since their invincible winning side in 2003/04. On two recent rare occasions, West Ham have managed to spoil Arsenal’s title hopes, a 2-2 draw at the London Stadium in April 2023 and a shock win at the Emirates in February of last season. If Nuno and West Ham are to beat the drop, they have a mighty task ahead of them this Sunday afternoon. West Ham’s remaining fixtures West Ham v Arsenal (10th May, 16:30) Newcastle v West Ham (17th May, 17:30) West Ham v Leeds (24th May, 16:00) Tottenham Hotspur’s remaining fixtures Tottenham v Leeds (11th May, 20:00) Chelsea v Tottenham (19th May, 20:15) Tottenham v Everton (24th May, 16:00) First up for Spurs is Leeds at home, who have more or less secured Premier League survival, followed by a London derby against a struggling Chelsea side, who will no doubt turn up against the Lilywhites, and lastly, Spurs host an Everton side who are chasing a European spot, which could prove to be a tricky matchup. As for the hammers, they host a determined Arsenal side in a London derby, followed by an away trip to Newcastle, who have had an extremely disappointing season. Leeds then travel to London Stadium on the final day of the season, in which they would likely already be mathematically safe, a big boost for West Ham. With three games left to go, Premier League status is on the line for West Ham and Spurs. Relegation to the Championship would spell catastrophic financial losses and multiple big-name departures. One must face the drop.
