🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear 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 Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, 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 Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.