🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.