Why Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Isn't as a Surprise.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.
Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the number 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 doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."
NEW CHALLENGER
Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.
In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.
MANAGER'S REACTION
"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness 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 is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.
