🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.