Wouter Vrancken is sadly mistaken after Rangers and Celtic admission
The Belgian manager left Sint-Truiden this summer to pursue an opportunity at Tynecastle Park as a replacement for Derek McInnes.
Under the Scottish manager, the Jam Tarts almost made history in the William Hill Premiership, but lost the title to Celtic on the final day.
Vrancken has ambitions of repeating McInnes' heroics from the 2025-26 campaign, but that may not be a realistic expectation for Hearts.
While the 47-year-old head coach led Sint-Truiden to their highest league finish in the Jupiler Pro League in 60 years, Scottish football will surely be a reality check for him.
Many managers have come and gone in hopes of beating the two Glaswegian giants to the title, but no one has done so since Alex Ferguson with Aberdeen in 1985.
Rangers realise path to success at detriment of Hearts
Over the last few years, the Gers have appointed foreign and relatively inexperienced head coaches who have failed to knock Celtic off their perch.
Steven Gerrard managed to break the Hoops' win streak, but no one has been able to replicate that since.
Danny Rohl seemed to have brought stability to Ibrox after a disastrous spell under Russell Martin, getting the Govan side back into contention for the William Hill Premiership title, but Martin O'Neill's nous proved valuable in the end after Celtic's own struggles with Wilfried Nancy.
McInnes, who has vast experience of Scottish football, was arguably the biggest reason for Hearts' success in the 2025-26 campaign, but the Light Blues have finally brought him to G51, and despite Vrancken's desires, he's undoubtedly in for a challenging time at Tynecastle Park.
Speaking after his arrival in Gorgie, the Belgian manager said, "That's one of the reasons I came here, to play for those places. To compete with the Glasgow teams and to overachieve again and fight for the top spots.
"The best clubs to work in are those that have ambitions and this is a good ambition. It's a good point of focus. Now we have to work for it and aim as high as possible and then we'll see where we land."
Hearts face test of resolve under Wouter Vrancken
Football Insider transfer correspondent Pete O'Rourke shared in March that Hearts wanted to keep Claudio Braga this summer despite interest from Celtic.
Since then, Lawrence Shankland and McInnes have moved to Rangers and Cammy Devlin's contract at Tynecastle Park has also expired.
The 26-year-old Portuguese centre-forward couldn't be blamed if he wanted to leave the Jam Tarts now that several influential figures are gone and his exit would be a major blow for Vrancken's overly ambitious plans in Edinburgh.