Why Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.
Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.
"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."
NEW CHALLENGER
Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided 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 unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.
COACH'S RESPONSE
"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.