The Reasons Hearts' Landmark Title Tilt Shouldn't Come as a Surprise.
JAMBOS BLAZING
Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.
For each of the last four decades, 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. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.
THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP
Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation 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 their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.
"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."
EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR
Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.
In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.
MANAGER'S REACTION
"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.