Why Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Isn't as a Shock.
JAMBOS BLAZING
Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.
For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.
"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."
NEW CHALLENGER
Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.
In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.
COACH'S RESPONSE
"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.
