Why Hearts' Historic Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.
Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
While much of the focus in Scotland 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 Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.
"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."
NEW CHALLENGER
Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.
In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.
MANAGER'S RESPONSE
"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.
