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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 the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot 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 resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight 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 sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.