Revolution in the air as old kings stumble

BARRY ANDERSON

SINCE the inception of football in this country in the late 19th century, it has almost been an unwritten law that Rangers and Celtic will gobble up the prizes on offer season after season.

Both have taken the quest for superiority over the other to gladiatorial extremes on several occasions by claiming all three of the domestic trophies, thereby resulting in a glorified Treble.

The consequence is Scottish football's paying public, the supporters, being faced with the monotony of pre-season title predictions from their "favourite" media celebrities every summer without fail. Their forecasts are precisely that - predictable. "I'll go for Celtic," Davie Provan will opine. "Rangers are my tip," counteracts Chic Young.

No-one, not one singular individual, tips Hearts, Hibs, Aberdeen, Dundee United or any other of the SPL clubs who have become collectively known as the also-rans.

The reason for this is easy to identify. Opt for one of the Old Firm clubs and you have a 50 per cent chance of being correct, because no-one else in Scotland wins the league, right? And we all know how much any journalist or broadcaster worth his salt wants to be seen to be in the know. But the question on everyone's lips - yes, even Davie's and Chic's whether they admit it or not - is whether this season has the potential to be a revolutionary one.

The reality is that Hearts are presently sitting five points clear atop the SPL after five straight victories from their opening five league fixtures.

Just for the record, they also dispatched Queen's Park in the early rounds of the CIS Cup using a primarily reserve side and still did not concede a goal. Vladimir Romanov and George Burley are flexing their muscles, and even Arnold Schwarzenegger cannot fail to notice.

Hibs have had a more modest beginning by comparison but, overlooking Hearts' monumental storm to the summit, the league campaign has also got off on a notably satisfying note down in Leith.

The 4-0 capitulation at Tynecastle withstanding, Hibs have looked impressive and seem to be building momentum. Manager Tony Mowbray will be content to conduct his business in the background of the all-singing, all-dancing Jambo juggernaut for the moment with his side in fourth place on level points with Celtic and one ahead of Rangers.

Not for 20 years have the Old Firm been pipped to the podium on prize-giving day. Aberdeen under Sir Alex Ferguson, of course back then he was just Alex and the hairdryer was only warming up, were the last team to take the league title away from Glasgow in 1985 during a period of New Firm dominance.

Between 1980 and '85, the championship trophy headed up the A90 on four out of six seasons - three times to Pittodrie and once to Tannadice. Oh, for the halcyon days.

There have been similar pockets of resistance to the Glasgow duopoly down through history, which must also give encouragement to Hearts, Hibs and anyone else who wants an attempt at swinging the balance of power this year. It is worth noting, though, that these movements have been as rare as a Scottish signing at Tynecastle, or indeed a signing of any sorts at Easter Road.

Motherwell (yes, Motherwell) ended a period of Old Firm control spanning 26 years in claiming their only top-flight title to date in 1932. Hibs won the league in 1948 and then again in consecutive years in 1951 and '52 as the Famous Five of Gordon Smith, Bobby Johnstone, Lawrie Reilly, Eddie Turnbull and Willie Ormond peaked to devastating effect.

The fifties was arguably the most productive period for football in the Capital. Hearts also executed championship triumphs in 1958 and '60 to present themselves as a potential new force along with their city neighbours before being denied the 1965 trophy only on goal average by Kilmarnock. Rangers and Celtic were back in control come the 1970s, and with the Graeme Souness-inspired revolution in the late '80s, which was taken to another level by Fergus McCann and David Murray in the 1990s, the Glasgow duopoly has been firmly in the ascendance for the best part of the last 20 years.

The first half of the decade known as the noughties has followed a similar format, but is the wind of change currently wafting from Scotland's west coast through to the east?

Cycles of boom and bust have affected the Old Firm in the past. So are we at the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, which will offer opportunity to Hibs, Hearts and even Aberdeen not just this season, but for a few years?

In the past these spells have been brief but they are the times put the glory into the glorious past of our Capital clubs.

Hearts fans are enjoying the contemplation at the moment, although attaining sufficient consistency has often proved the degeneration of previous title tilts.

Tynecastle frequenters are too well aware of this after the seasons of 1997/98 and, more pertinently, 1985/86. To counteract that there is a suspicion, backed up by results thus far, that the current Rangers and Celtic sides lack the potency and solidity which previously set them apart in days gone by when they were seriously influenced by men like Brian Laudrup, Henrik Larsson, Derek Johnstone and Billy McNeill.

Perfectly placed to assess is Steve Fulton. The midfielder suffered during his initiation as a Celtic player from being in the shadow of an all-conquering Rangers squad, and in seven years with Hearts grew utterly dejected with merely aiming for third place year on year. "When I was at Tynecastle I got sick fed-up of saying, 'we'll go for third'," admits Fulton.

"If you're in the same league as them you should be challenging them. Hearts have rattled in a barrowload of goals in their early games. Hibs stuttered a little bit and I put that down to the speculation about Derek Riordan which might have upset the flow of things through there, but they have settled a bit now and the result at Ibrox was fantastic.

"I think the only doubt people have is whether Hearts and Hibs can last the pace, but they can't prove that one way or the other until we get a lot further into the season. Hearts can only keep winning each game and they have certainly looked the part."

Fulton, like every other objective observer, recognises that both Old Firm clubs are now carrying weaker squads than was the case in his heyday. He continues: "That's a factor as well. Everybody expected Rangers to be on a high going into the Hibs match after qualifying for the Champions league but Hibs went there and beat them 3-0. That doesn't happen too often, but Hibs also went to Parkhead and won last year so I think the other teams are inspiring each other. Aberdeen beat Rangers too.

"When I played with Hearts results were few and far between through in Glasgow. Without any disrespect to the Old Firm clubs, I think they were stronger a few years ago.

"The nine-in-a-row team at Rangers, for example. I don't think anyone would argue that was a better side than the one they have now with Laudrup and Gascoigne and people like that. Celtic, for me, lost so much of their effect when Larsson went to Barcelona. He always seemed to score against Hearts when I was there, and even when I left that carried on.

"Everybody's argument is about how much better the Edinburgh clubs and Aberdeen have become compared with whether the Old Firm have got worse. I think it's a bit of both, but you have to give the likes of Hearts and Hibs credit for having a go."

Some indication of how far forward Hearts have come, and perhaps how far backwards Rangers may have travelled, could be derived from the clubs' meeting later this month at Tynecastle. "That's what everybody is waiting for, really," says Fulton. "Even if Hearts were to lose at Livingston on Saturday the whole country wants to see how they fare against the Old Firm with this new team. Hibs have shown it can be done, and all the new players at Hearts won't have any fear against Rangers or Celtic."

In taking the fight to the Old Firm, Hearts and Hibs have got the whole country sitting bolt upright in anticipation.

Taken from the Scotsman