🔗 Share this article

HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed 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 total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.