🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover 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 desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered 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 comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents 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 sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased 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 excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club 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, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.