🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the number 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 appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.