🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally 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 obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.