🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"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 try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.