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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added 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 granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.