Jimmy Thunder was having none of Crawford Grimsley's chutzpah, none of his mouthing-off before their heavyweight contest back in the late 1990s, none of his pre-bout arrogance. Thunder took precisely 1.5 seconds to put Grimsley down - one punch, an overhand right to his opponent's temple. As Celtic unloaded on Hearts at Celtic Park it was football's equivalent of Thunder's devastation; speed and accuracy and ruthlessness in the face of a challenger akin to a rabbit caught in the headlights.
Hearts didn't give it the big one in the preamble to this evisceration, but they set up in the manner of a team who truly believed they were a whole lot better than they actually are. Poor concentration and lack of physicality cost them two set-piece goals inside 10 minutes. The game was effectively over, but the visitors' suffering had only just begun.
Celtic score seven in humiliation of title rivals Hearts All the latest Celtic news, views and analysis Everything you need to know about Hearts The pretenders came to Glasgow with a weak away record in the league - two wins in 11 between this season and the end of last, both against Hibs - and tried to go toe-to-toe. Thinking attack is the best form of defence is all very well as long as you can back it up, as long as you can defend competently, as long as you can pass from A to B without losing your mind, as long as you don't concede acreage of space to exploit. Time and again, Hearts rolled out the red carpet to Celtic.
A clinical Celtic made them pay for their naivety and maybe their arrogance, too. The footballing version of poor Crawford Grimsley. On their backside before they knew it.
Hearts played the highest line with slow defenders, they pushed up the park and left themselves exposed to Celtic's speedsters. That gameplan was not high-risk, it was reckless. Martin O'Neill needed a win after his recent travails and this was a stroll in the park that he could not have imagined.
Football management can be a horribly stressful business that can put years on you. After this, O'Neill looked younger not older. The ageing process worked in reverse thanks to his team feasting on Hearts' scarcely believable weaknesses.
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