🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.