🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team'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 the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, 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 title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.