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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.