🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.