Why Hearts' Historic Championship Challenge Isn't as a Shock.
JAMBOS BLAZING
Maybe the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.
Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.
"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."
EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR
Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.
In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, 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 Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.
MANAGER'S REACTION
"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.
