🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants 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 table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss 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. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.