🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day 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 doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.