🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.