🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke 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 appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth 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 modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. 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 given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.