🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled 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. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.