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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, 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 below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.