🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer 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 desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club 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 Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, 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 long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.