🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much 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 Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear 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 accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.