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What was that we saw on social media on Saturday night? You know, the video of Derek McInnes on the pitch immediately after his Hearts side had seen off city rivals Hibs at the death to push further clear at the head of the Premiership.
The Tynecastle manager was clearly enjoying the moment, that’s for sure.
The snapshot of Gorgie gladness starts with both of his hands raised in exultation, a smile the width of Dalry Road on his face. Then, he punches the air with his right hand before starting to clap as the fans chant ‘We Shall Not Be Moved’.
And that’s when it happens. It doesn’t look like a deepfake. There nothing to suggest there was any technical jiggery-pokery.
There is everything to suggest, though, that, for a good wee while, he was actually singing along.
Yes, Derek McInnes, the great pooh-pooher of all things title talk, joining in with the punters as they tell the rest of Scottish football, in no uncertain terms, that they have no plans to see their team finish this season anywhere other than the top of the Premiership.
Hearts boss Derek McInnes joins in with the chants of We Shall Not Be Moved at Tynecastle
Tynecastle goes crazy as Craig Halkett celebrates his winner in the dying minutes
The Hearts fans have been solidly behind their heroes as they soar to top of Premiership
One in the eye for Claudio Braga during a tussle with Jordan Obita of Hibs
For all he refuses to be taken in interviews beyond the fact that there have only been seven games played in the league campaign and that he is still in the early stages of building a team that really needs to keep getting better, that little scrap of footage makes you wonder whether he really is believing there is the possibility of something magical forming behind-doors.
Of course, it’s only a few seconds snapped on a cameraphone in the heat of the moment. It doesn’t really mean anything.
McInnes was absolutely entitled to lap up every moment of a last-gasp derby win in pretty dreadful conditions along with everyone else inside Tynecastle Park.
However, it does throw up one thing that really is worth thinking about as we all opine over whether or not the grand mish-mash of McInnes and Tony Bloom and Jamestown Analytics and all the rest of it can really come together and conjure a sustained challenge for the flag.
It shows how intoxicating Hearts’ home ground can be when it’s really rocking, when everyone is united behind a common cause.
When, even on a Saturday night when there are drinks to be drunk and partners to be met and other parts of life to attend to, no one is leaving their seat because they still believe, against all odds and with a largely awful game looking like it’s petering out to a stalemate, that they can help will their favourites on to score a winner.
Which they did, in the 92nd minute, when centre-half Craig Halkett got in behind Chris Cadden to get his foot to a terrific Sabah Kerjota cross and deliver the kind of finish on the half-volley that any self-respecting centre-forward would be proud of.
Tynecastle is a special venue. Always has been, always will be. The punters who fill it are special too. Just look at the achievements of the Foundation of Hearts and they way they rallied to bring the club back from the brink following administration in 2013.
What a moment for the Gorgie faithful as Halkett fires home his late winner in the derby
Martin Boyle had so many opportunities for Hibs on Saturday but was denied every time
It all gets a bit lively between Josh Mulligan of Hibs and Lawrence Shankland during the derby
To date, the organisation has raised just short of £20million. It has more than 8000 members, paying in money every month.
Not any old club could do this. It takes determination, commitment, organisation, something different. And that’s what makes that stadium feel different on occasions like Saturday night.
Amid all the talk of data, analytics, further investment in January and the reasons for optimism that can be taken from Union Saint-Gilloise winning the Belgian title with Brighton owner Bloom part of the machinery, it is something that doesn’t get mentioned enough.
Hearts have a home venue that, in its current mood and state, can propel the team to higher planes.
And when you look at the teams most likely to be competing with them in the higher reaches of the table as this campaign progresses, that offers a real advantage in this game of marginal gains.
Despite a meeting planned for tomorrow between board members and fan representatives, there is cordite in the air at Celtic Park. Silent protests have been called off for the moment, but is this pow-wow involving CEO Michael Nicholson and finance chief Chris McKay really going to bring about a truce.
Celtic fans want their heads on a plate. They are rightly appalled by the rank mismanagement of the squad, a disastrous summer transfer window and a team that looks like it has shot his bolt despite all the money spent on it and, perhaps more pertinently, despite all the money left lying around in the bank.
Martin Boyle was denied by the offside flag, as well as the bar, in Saturday's capital clash
Across the city of Glasgow at Ibrox, meanwhile, you can almost detect the traces of venom on your shoes when you walk up Edmiston Drive.
The atmosphere there at the moment, with chanting against head coach Russell Martin and banners demanding the removal of CEO Patrick Stewart, is toxic.
The fact the team is rank rotten doesn’t do much for the overall vibe either.
Their on-loan full-back Max Aarons actually admitted midweek that it is getting to the players.
Contrast all that with Tynecastle. McInnes made a point of mentioning the feeling in the air there when the dust had settled after the Hibs game.
He described those scenes at time-up as ‘a beautiful sight’. He said that was the best the ground had been in his time there.
Lord knows what it’s going to be like on the 26th when Celtic come calling, providing the old Jam Tarts can win at Kilmarnock, which they should, in between.
It’s one of the most dreadful cliches in football, normally dragged out by clubs when they’re trying to flog season books or their fifth strip or training kit of the season.
However, in this particular case, in this climate of unrest and division elsewhere, it stands firm.
If Hearts are going to keep this going, no one should underestimate the role their 12th man, their punters, can play.
