Everyone loves an underdog. A lot of the joy for those of us who love the World Cup comes from the prospect of the so-called minnows putting one over on the traditional big fish.

Of course, supporting Scotland often means you’re backing the unfancied team anyway. But who doesn’t love to see a Cape Verde, Uzbekistan or Haiti spring a surprise (as long as it’s not against us)?

As was mentioned once or twice at the time, this year’s Scottish Premier League threw up similar giant-killing excitement when Hearts almost won their first title for 66 years. The role played by betting industry billionaire Tony Bloom, who has invested in Hearts, and his Jamestown Analytics consultancy only makes Hearts’ upsurge more intriguing.

Like he has done at Brighton, Bloom has introduced algorithmic data analytics to inform Hearts’ choice of player signings – and no doubt the appointment of their next manager too. 

Brighton insider on whether Bloom can keep his Hearts promise

At its most basic, it works by crunching massive amounts of player performance data to identify quiet over-performers who are likely to have far more impact than the cost of signing them might suggest.

It’s a lesson in........

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