🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

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 Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, 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." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.