Why Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared 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 top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.
For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.
CELTIC'S DECLINE
Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.
"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted 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, it's still so early."
NEW CHALLENGER
Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.
In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga 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 modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.
COACH'S REACTION
"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. 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 in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.
