Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.
Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.
Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is 246.
"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."
Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.
In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.
"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views 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 in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.
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