🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' 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 their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced 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 added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.