Hearts cash boost and Celtic cup exit proves a week is a long time in football!

Dramatic change in Scottish football’s landscape after good news at Tynecastle follows cup loss for Celtic.

It was Harold Wilson who famously said a week is a long time in politics.

And, as we have just witnessed, it can also be an age in Scottish football terms.

Friday’s news of Ann Budge’s £2.5-million investment in Hearts completed a whirlwind few days for our game. It was another remider once again just how quickly fortunes can change.

Not simply for fans of the Tynecastle club, who justifiably have cause to celebrate, with Budge’s cash injection securing a post-administration future. But for pretty much all the country’s big players.

Prior to Celtic’s Scottish Cup tie with Aberdeen, the Hoops were on the crest of a wave.

They were unbeaten in the League with keeper Fraser Forster having gone over 1000 minutes in domestic football without conceding a goal. The Double, it was assumed, was theirs for the taking.

Ninety minutes later and all the talk was that for the first time since 1982, Celtic had gone out of both domestic cups before the quarter-finals.

As so often happens, as their stock has fallen, so that of their great rivals, Rangers, has risen.

Up until the start of the month, criticism of both the team and the manager, Ally McCoist, had been widespread as a result of some underwhelming team displays. Now, suddenly, things look much brighter.

Victory over Dunfermline secured a place in the last eight of the Scottish Cup. And thanks to the best possible draw on the Sunday, only Albion Rovers stand between the Govan club and a semi-final at Ibrox!

Equal split of tickets to the fans notwithstanding, that would be a huge advantage for the Rangers players if they were to get through.

The biggest boost, of course, is the way Celtic’s exit has opened up the competition to all comers. Aberdeen, as their conquerors, have to fancy their chances.

Resurgent under the charge of Derek McInnes, they are already in the League Cup Final and are going well in the League.

I forecast in this column that they would be strong this campaign because they are very solid and well balanced as a side. Again, it has come as no surprise here that Adam Rooney has proven such a good fit for this Dons side.

I liked him as a player in his time up with Inverness Caledonian Thistle and thought he was exactly what the Dons needed.

He is a strong, powerful striker and, as such, a perfect target man for their quick, wide players, Johnny Hayes, Peter Pawlett and Niall McGinn. He is already off the mark and should get plenty of goals before the end of the season.

However, as Neil Lennon can testify, they can’t afford to get carried away. What goes up also comes down.

And, in Scottish football, all too often it does so with an almighty bump.