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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.