🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, 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 used to being in." Correct, Derek, 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 besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.