🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect 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 consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although 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 their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest 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 mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter 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. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.