🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

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 taken aback people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign 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 carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.