The Reasons Hearts' Historic Title Tilt Isn't as a Surprise.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.
Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.
"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."
EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR
Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. 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, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based 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 exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.
MANAGER'S RESPONSE
"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.
