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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.