🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers 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 Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.