Hearts Breaking

They say two wrongs don’t make a right.

And they certainly didn’t in Scotland last week. Fitba. Bloody Hell.

In a country - and a league - that needed a fresh name on the league championship trophy more than possibly any other, Celtic prevailed against a Hearts team that had been at the summit since September. Their fans celebrated, of course and as they should, but even they might just concede that the result wasn’t perhaps in the best interests of Scottish football.

They also celebrated a bit too much, or at least a section of them did anyway, and as they flooded the pitch, a few got involved in unnecessary altercations with Hearts players that meant the Edinburgh club’s players and staff went home (some still in kit) to lick their wounds, although they also received a well-deserved hero’s welcome from their fans back in Edinburgh. Celtic have already apologised for the behaviour of some of their fans, that caused the game to end abruptly, albeit with the outcome done and dusted. But Celtic Park enjoyed an afternoon that few felt was remotely possible during their bleak mid-winter.

That second ‘wrong’ made no difference to the title race. Hearts’s race was run, and they had fallen agonisingly short. Brighton owner, Tony Bloom’s prediction that his other team could challenge the Old Firm within a decade had happened nine years early. It had been an incredible season and one that almost produced a miracle, helped not least by the fact that both Rangers and Celtic gave Hearts a massive boost by – at different times – getting it very wrang indeed when it came to managerial appointments.

Rangers, having decided that Russell Martin – fresh from refusing to change style when Southampton were marooned at the foot of the Premier League – was the outstanding candidate in their search for the next Steven Gerrard, realised too late that Martin was again refusing to budge when everyone else could see the obvious. His team’s performances, or lack thereof, got so bad that he had to be smuggled out after his last match in charge.

Celtic, meanwhile, dispensed with Brendan Rogers and replaced him with club legend, Martin O’Neil, while they too searched for a long-term solution. They still are. O’Neill won almost every game, making Wilfred Nancy’s arrival from the MLS a tricky task from the off, and when he lost almost every game, including a home match with Rangers – who by now had appointed Danny Rohl – the writing was on the wall. O’Neill was to return, just in time to get results and begin an unbeaten and ultimately unstoppable run that would take them to the title (and probably a double after the Cup Final this coming weekend). But, at 74, the Northern Irishman’s future in the hot seat is far from certain.

Mission: Impossible

Both clubs had exited European football early too, and as their fans showed their displeasure, so Hearts were able to lay the foundation of their title challenge with a mix of grinding out results and also beginning to look the part themselves with some stylish victories and a home record that the Old Firm could only dream of. In the end, they were two and bit minutes, plus added time, from achieving what had seemed impossible. So near, yet so far.

It might also turn out to be so far as to be a one-off.

Of course, it might not be. Bloom’s money, and renewed interest in the game north of the border, might mean that the duopoly becomes a thing of the past. It was even suggested that this Hearts team, as good as they’ve been, might well be the worst Hearts team we see in the next ten years. Their fans will hope so.

But can they really challenge? Can anyone for that matter? Or will, as happened after Leicester City won the PL in 2015/16, it simply force the giants to spend more to make sure it never happens again? Celtic and Rangers already enjoy such a seismic gap between their earning potential and the rest that any rivals can barely cling on as it is.

A win for Hearts would have given everyone hope and showed them it was possible, breaking a glass ceiling that has – at times in the noughties – looked utterly impenetrable.

Motherwell, for a spell, also looked capable of challenging this season. Hibernian flattered to deceive a little. Falkirk were sensational, given they’d only just been promoted, but no-one else came close and hardly look capable of turning the odd decent result into a sustained challenge at the top any time soon.

It has been 40 years since a club other than Celtic or Rangers has won the league. In 1985, Aberdeen (when Fergie was still a fledgling manager) retained the trophy, after Dundee United’s win in 1983 had broken the Old Firm’s grip. To be fair, you have to go back to the mid-1960s to find a time when the Scottish league was won by other clubs on a regular basis.

But the first ‘wrong’ had a much bigger influence on the destination of the league title.

A few days earlier, at Motherwell – with the home team sporting a green (or petrol blue) white kit – the league trophy had been firmly in Hearts’ grasp. As they skated to victory at home to Falkirk, Celtic trailed at ‘Well, then came back to lead, but soon were level again. A 2-2 draw would mean that Celtic would need to beat the Jam Tarts by three clear goals at the weekend rather than just beat them.

Momentum Shift

But, with literally seconds remaining, a penalty was awarded to Celtic, from which they scored and monumentally shifted the momentum for the final day. The penalty was harsh to say the least; a handball or an elbow although neither looked enough to warrant the decision. Some called it the worst in refereeing history, and certainly since VAR was introduced. The replays show, at best, a very, very negligible infringement with hardly any conclusive evidence from any angle. The referee, to his initial credit, gave nothing but was convinced to look at the monitor, and after doing so, buckled and pointed to the spot. Fans of Hearts could be forgiven for feeling hard done by.

Clear and obvious it was not. Clear and obvious that it had altered the direction of the title race? Almost certainly.

Cynics and conspiracy theorists alike wondered if it was the VAR that strongly suggested the referee check again, or the Head of Sky Sports. It certainly upped the ante for the game on Saturday, adding a fair view extra viewers I dare say, me included.

The ref in question had to spend the night under police protection after his address was posted online by a furious – but also clearly unhinged - fan.

The third – and hopefully final - wrong of these sorry few days where some people seem hell bent on deflecting from what was a season for the ages.

But I’m concerned that the longer-term damage that Celtic’s triumph ultimately causes and worry that those 40 years could well turn into 50. At least. It’s difficult to envisage a campaign when both the Glaswegian clubs are as bad again, especially in the same season.

Given how close it came to ending, the Old Firm’s stranglehold will surely only get tighter if they spend more, get managerial appointments right and also see their would-be challengers having to juggle domestic and top-level European football, as Hearts will have to next season when they enter the Champions League qualifying rounds.

All this is not to say that Celtic didn’t deserve it this time, as the league table rarely lies, but then they’ve already won the league twenty times already this century.

So, at the risk of annoying a significant chunk of Glasgow, and millions of fans around the world, if there was ever a time when it was someone else’s turn to have a go, this was probably that moment.

For the sake of the SPFL and it’s immediate future, and for the fans of every other club in it.

And even the most ardent Celtic fan might concur with that when the dust has finally settled.

Or maybe not.