Why Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Shock.
JAMBOS BLAZING
Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.
Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn 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 anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."
EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR
Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole 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 hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.
MANAGER'S RESPONSE
"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.