Why Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Isn't as a Surprise.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely 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, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.
THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP
Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.
"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."
NEW CHALLENGER
Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players 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 mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction 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 mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.
In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.
COACH'S REACTION
"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.