🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.