Why Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.
JAMBOS BLAZING
Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.
Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.
THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP
While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.
"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."
NEW CHALLENGER
Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.
In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.
MANAGER'S RESPONSE
"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.
