🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite 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

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems 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 matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.