Why Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.
JAMBOS BLAZING
Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.
Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.
CELTIC'S DECLINE
While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.
"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."
NEW CHALLENGER
Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.
In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.
MANAGER'S RESPONSE
"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.