The Old Firm’s 40-year supremacy is at risk. And there’s an Aussie at the heart of it

The last time someone other than Celtic or Rangers won the Scottish league, Alex Ferguson wasn’t yet a sir. His third and final title with Aberdeen, in 1984-85, just before he became Manchester United manager, preceded an unbroken 40-year duopoly in which the Glasgow clubs turned Scotland’s top division into football’s most famous two-horse race.

Finally, a third horse is emerging.

A quarter of the way into the Scottish Premiership, Heart of Midlothian hold a nine-point lead, and suddenly football romantics across the world are tuning in. Though Celtic and Rangers both have a game in hand, the Edinburgh side is mounting the first serious title challenge in recent memory - and it’s not a one-off fluke, but perhaps the start of a radical shift in Scottish football.

It’s not unusual for one of the Old Firm sides to be struggling. It is unusual that they both are; Celtic and Rangers have already sacked one coach each. Russell Martin never looked a good fit at Ibrox and was predictably punted after 17 games; Brendan Rodgers, who replaced Ange Postecoglou in 2023 for his second stint at Celtic, resigned last week after falling out with the club’s board, as majority shareholder Dermot Desmond labelled Rodgers “divisive, misleading, and self-serving” in an extraordinary parting statement. It’s the first time both clubs have decided to make a managerial change in the same season.

It’s too early to get too excited, but the conditions are ripe for a revolution.

Celtic and Rangers’ historically low ebb has occurred at the same time as Hearts’ rise. Earlier this year, British businessman Tony Bloom bought a 29 per cent stake in the club, putting them in a stable with his other football investments: the Premier League’s Brighton and Hove Albion, whose rise is largely attributed to his strategic approach, Belgian champions Union Saint-Gilloise, who won their first title in 90 years last season, and Melbourne Victory, the A-League club which will be hoping for a similar impact.

Cameron Devlin (right) squares off with Celtic’s Callum McGregor.Credit: Getty Images

Bloom can see an opportunity to disrupt the Old Firm. A professional gambler, he specialises in making these sorts of predictions, and has devised a secret algorithm which sits at the heart of everything his clubs do. His company, Jamestown Analytics, provides their services to all of his clubs, and it is most hopeful in recruitment; some of Bloom’s signings have been central to what Hearts have been able to do.

But their incumbent stars have also grown a leg. Socceroos midfielder Cameron Devlin is, by most reputable stats, their top-rated player this season. The 27-year-old is into his fifth year with Hearts, and long ago endeared himself to their supporters with his tenacious, pitbull-like attitude - captured again in his head-to-head confrontation with Celtic captain Callum McGregor. Hearts won that game 3-1, and Devlin was man of the match, his form having earned a recall to the Australian team after a year on the outer, and occasional custodianship of the captain’s armband at club level.

Devlin chuckles about his bust-up with McGregor, and is proud to have bested a player who is considered an ornament to the Scottish game. He still speaks with a sense of wonderment about the experience of being regarded as such a key figure for Hearts.

“When I walk out, I still get tingles,” he said.

“I absolutely love it, mate. It’s what it’s all about. It’s what you grow up watching on the telly, and to be a part of it at a massive club and in the position we’re in at the moment, it’s special.”

Cameron Devlin has worn the captain’s armband for Hearts this season.Credit: Getty Images

Since being promoted five years ago, Hearts have finished third, fourth, third and then seventh, missing the Scottish Premiership’s top-half cut-off last season, which meant a battle to stave off relegation. But the appointment of Derek McInnes as coach has pulled them out of that downward spiral, and their stunning start has made it difficult for players to ignore the noise about brewing fairytales, and what could amount to a Leicester City-level achievement should they be able to sustain it.

“Tony Bloom coming in, it’s so exciting for the club,” Devlin said.

“You can see what he’s done at other clubs, the rise they’ve had … you can’t help but be excited about it because he’s shown that what he does works.

“Obviously we’re not looking at what’s it going to look like in May, because so much has happened in two to three months - so the next seven to eight months, so much can happen. It’d be silly to look at that and think, oh, what can we do?

“For us as players, and I genuinely mean it, we just focus on the next game. You don’t really have time to think about too far ahead. You’ve just got to try and worry about getting your body right.”

Devlin went to the 2022 World Cup but didn’t get on the field, although he did take home something pretty special: Lionel Messi’s jersey, which he bagged after Australia’s round of 16 defeat to Argentina. Socceroos Tony Popovic coach hailed Devlin a genuine World Cup selection prospect last week. Popovic is due by Friday to name his squad for the upcoming friendlies against Venezuela and Colombia in the United States, and Devlin is in line for a more substantial role, having departed the last camp with a few tips that the coach had told him to work on.

Lionel Messi and Cameron Devlin exchanged kits at the 2022 World Cup.Credit: Getty

“It’s been really good to watch from afar because you can see what the boys are up to and how well they’re doing,” Devlin said of the Socceroos. “It just puts that fire in the belly. I want to be a part of that kind of thing. I just want more of it now.”

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