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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip 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 experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven 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 Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed 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 win.