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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.