Why Heart of Midlothian's Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.
Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, 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 told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."
NEW CHALLENGER
Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite 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, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole 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 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 club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.
MANAGER'S REACTION
"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.
