🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.