The Reasons Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Isn't as a Surprise.
HEARTS ON FIRE
Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.
For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.
CELTIC'S SLUMP
While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.
"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."
EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR
Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.
In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.
COACH'S REACTION
"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions 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 in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.