Why Hearts' Landmark Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.
For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.
CELTIC'S DECLINE
Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.
"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."
EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR
Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.
In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.
MANAGER'S REACTION
"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.