🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.