🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott 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 a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning 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 anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate 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 good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.