The Reasons Hearts' Landmark Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.
JAMBOS BLAZING
Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.
Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.
CELTIC'S DECLINE
Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.
"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."
EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR
Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.
In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled 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 combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.
MANAGER'S RESPONSE
"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.