Can Hearts make impossible possible and win Scottish Premiership?
If you forget that Hearts, or any club outside the Old Firm, should not win the league, you can only conclude that McInnes’ team are the real deal and Rodgers’ huff & puff champions are in real trouble.
They hadn’t looked this good since George Burley took over twenty years ago; That particular Hearts campaign was ended not by the Old Firm but by the stupidity of the club’s then owner, Vlad Romanov.
Some might say it’s unwise for the Hearts public to daydream as it’s still too early in the campaign. But why not? Isn’t football about dreaming about what could happen?
They have experienced a lot of misery in these areas lately. Telling a Jambo to calm down when his team is heading for an eight-point gap at the top of the table would be the worst kind of spoilsport.
They haven’t won the league since 1960. We have a long road ahead of us. There is danger, no doubt. There is pressure, injuries and bumps along the way, but these are exciting times.
And what could make this sustainable is that the club’s infrastructure is everything Celtic and Rangers are not.
Durable. Focused. This is backed by the money and wisdom of Brighton chairman Tony Bloom, who invested £10 million in a minority stake in the club.
This is also supported by the work of Jamestown Analytics and their ability to find names such as Kyziridis, an uncapped Greek who plays for Slovakia, and Braga, who plays in the second tier of Norwegian football.
The club is now aligned on and off the pitch after being a troubled place for many years. Celtic and Rangers don’t mind that kind of stability.
People rooted in Scottish football see things as they have always been and fail to see them ever changing. Perhaps this view will remain valid at the end of the season. Maybe. The fact that there is serious doubt is exciting enough for now.
People like Bloom, watching from the podium here, are a breath of fresh air. He has already said Hearts could win the league within ten years. Such talk from an underdog is often regarded as laughable in Scotland. Generally.
Tynecastle was alive on Sunday. Another exam passed successfully. Gorgeous burgundy, of course.
