🔗 Share this article

JAMBOS BLAZING

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.