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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

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, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.