🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely 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." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.