The Reasons Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Isn't as a Shock.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.
Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.
"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."
EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR
Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.
In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.
COACH'S REACTION
"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.
