🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.