🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.