There we go again. Just when I thought I could enjoy a little peace and quiet after Celtic had done what Celtic do best, another voice from the other side of the fence decided to remind us that apparently winning the league is no longer enough.

No, no, no. In our victory we must also listen to the excuses, the grievances, the what-ifs and the endless theories about why somebody else should really have won it instead.

And this time, step forward Derek McInnes.

The former Hearts manager has decided to revisit last season and argue that his team suffered “a real injustice” and that, but for a few contentious decisions going against them, Hearts would have won the title.

He also admitted that he wanted to be the manager who won a championship outside the traditional Glasgow two. Well, Derek, wanting something and deserving something are two entirely different things.

Perhaps somebody should heave explained that distinction before you decided to present the latest grievance to the world.

Honestly, give it a rest. I am getting thoroughly fed up with this nonsense. Celtic won the league because Celtic earned the right to win it. Not because Hearts were robbed. Not because the footballing universe conspired against Edinburgh’s finest.

And certainly not because every contentious decision in Scottish football can be gathered together afterwards and presented as evidence that the wrong team became champions.

Celtic are champions. Hearts are not. No amount of retrospective moaning changes that rather inconvenient fact.

Let us examine McInnes’s argument properly, because as an English teacher I do appreciate a statement which can be analysed.

Unfortunately, this one has a rather obvious weakness.

Where is the evidence?

McInnes says a few contentious decisions went against Hearts and that without them they would have won the league.

Would have. Could have. Should have. Three wonderfully useful expressions when reality refuses to cooperate with your ambitions. If McInnes genuinely believes refereeing decisions cost Hearts the title, then identify them.

Which matches? Which incidents? Which decisions were wrong?

And most importantly, how can he demonstrate that changing those decisions would necessarily have changed the final outcome of the championship?

Making a general allegation is easy. Demonstrating that an injustice actually occurred is considerably more difficult.

I am not suggesting referees never make mistakes. Of course they do. Celtic supporters know perfectly well that poor officiating can have serious consequences, and I have repeatedly argued that bad decisions should be examined and challenged.

But there is a difference between demanding accountability for identifiable mistakes and using vague complaints about refereeing as a convenient explanation for failing to achieve an objective.

You cannot simply wave your hands in the air, mutter something about contentious decisions and expect everyone else to conclude that your team was the rightful champion.

Football does not work like that.

At least, it should not.

And if McInnes wants this argument to be taken seriously, then he needs to offer something more substantial than a retrospective collection of grievances. Otherwise, it simply sounds like a manager still struggling to make peace with how the season ended.

Because there is another part of this story which keeps being conveniently overlooked.

Hearts had opportunities to win the league themselves. Nobody prevented them from collecting the necessary points across the season. Nobody forced them to drop points elsewhere. Nobody else was responsible for making sure Hearts converted a brilliant title challenge into an actual championship.

That responsibility belonged to Hearts.

And to Derek McInnes.

If you want to win the Scottish Premiership outside Glasgow’s biggest clubs, you need more than a good team and an admirable ambition.

You need consistency. You need resilience. You need composure under pressure. And when the biggest moments arrive, you need to finish the job.

A title is not awarded for having a very good season.

It is not awarded because your manager desperately wants to make history.

And it certainly is not awarded because several months later you have decided that certain refereeing decisions should have gone your way.

You have to earn it. Celtic did. Hearts did not.

And nowhere was that distinction clearer than at Celtic Park on the final day.

Hearts knew exactly what was required.

They needed a point. They came to Celtic Park knowing that a draw would make them champions. They took the lead. They had the title in their hands. That was their opportunity to settle every argument on the football pitch.

They were minutes away from doing it.

And then Celtic took it away from them.

That is what champions are supposed to do. They take responsibility for their own destiny. They find a way. They deliver under pressure.

I would be fascinated to know whether McInnes has spent quite as much time analysing Hearts’ own performances as he has discussing contentious decisions.

Because if we are going to revisit last season, then let us revisit all of it. How did Hearts perform away from home? Where were the dropped points? Where were the missed opportunities? Did they consistently show the mentality required to finish above Celtic? And when they arrived at Celtic Park knowing that one point would do it, did they get that point?

No. That is the part which matters.

A title race is not decided by selecting a handful of disputed incidents after the event and pretending everything else becomes irrelevant.

It is decided over an entire season.

Dozens of matches. Good decisions and bad decisions. Good performances and bad ones. Moments of luck. Moments of misfortune. And ultimately the ability to cope with pressure better than everybody else.

If McInnes believes the final outcome was unfair, then by all means explain precisely why. But perhaps he should examine Hearts’ – and his own – shortcomings with the same enthusiasm he appears to reserve for everybody else’s mistakes.

Accountability, Derek. It is a wonderful thing.

Managers should try it occasionally.

There is, of course, another reason why these comments become particularly tiresome from a Celtic perspective. Celtic keep winning. We keep lifting trophies. We keep winning championships. And every time we do, somebody seems determined to explain why our success should come with an asterisk.

Perhaps Celtic were fortunate. Perhaps somebody else was unlucky. Perhaps a referee made a mistake. Perhaps in some alternative universe everything turns out differently.

Well, what if Celtic had scored another goal somewhere? What if Hearts had taken more points in another match? What if somebody had defended better? What if somebody had taken a chance they missed?

We could play this game forever.

Football is not an exercise in hypothetical mathematics.

Teams win points. Teams lose points. At the end of the season, the table tells you where you finished. Celtic finished as champions.

That is the result which matters.

And I will not apologise for celebrating it because Derek McInnes had a dream of becoming the manager who finally broke the domination of the Glasgow clubs. That ambition was perfectly understandable.

Indeed, Scottish football would benefit enormously from more genuine competition at the top. But an admirable ambition does not magically turn its failure into an injustice.

I can respect a manager who comes close to winning a title. I can respect somebody who acknowledges where his team fell short and promises to learn from it. I can even respect someone who challenges specific refereeing decisions and produces credible evidence to support the argument.

What I struggle to respect is this apparent inability to accept an outcome without attaching a grievance to it. And forgive me, Derek, ya prick, but this latest performance does not exactly strengthen your case.

Here is some advice, completely free of charge.

Stop looking backwards. If Hearts genuinely want to challenge Celtic, then they have to build a team capable of sustaining another title challenge. If he wants to win a title he has to do the same thing. Improve the squad. Strengthen the mentality. Learn from the games where points were dropped. Make sure that the next time the opportunity presents itself, you are ready to seize it.

That is how championship-winning teams are built. Not by repeatedly reminding everybody that you think a few contentious decisions cost you the title. Not by reopening a race which has already been settled.

And certainly not by giving Celtic supporters another reason to roll their eyes and wonder whether some people will ever simply accept that Celtic were better when it mattered.

If McInnes has evidence of specific refereeing errors which materially changed the title race, then present it. If he thinks officiating was inconsistent, identify the incidents and make the argument. That is a legitimate discussion.

Scottish football should never be afraid to examine refereeing standards.

But vague complaints months later? No. That is not enough.

Celtic won the league.

So, Derek, put the grievance back in the drawer. Hearts might yet challenge Celtic seriously again. Even you might even get another opportunity to finish the job with last year’s third placed team. But that will require more than what-ifs and complaints about decisions which did not go their way.

As for Celtic supporters, we know what happened last season.

We watched our team compete. We watched them win. And we watched Celtic lift the trophy. No imaginary alternative table, no retrospective lament and no amount of theatrical indignation can take that away.

Celtic won because Celtic earned it. If McInnes can demonstrate otherwise with specific, credible evidence, let him do so. Until then, perhaps he should stop behaving as though Scottish football owes him an apology.

History does not award trophies for grievances.

It awards them to champions. And last season, that was Celtic.

He and others need to learn to live with it.

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