🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

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

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled 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 modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects 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 the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.