Why Hearts' Historic Championship Challenge Isn't as a Shock.
JAMBOS BLAZING
Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.
For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.
CELTIC'S DECLINE
While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining 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 questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse 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, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.
In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.
COACH'S RESPONSE
"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. 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 look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.
