🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.