Why Hearts' Landmark Championship Challenge Isn't as a Surprise.
JAMBOS BLAZING
Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.
Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.
THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP
While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured 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 dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.
"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."
NEW CHALLENGER
Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.
In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, 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 Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.
COACH'S REACTION
"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.
