🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress 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 Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers 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 team manager the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.