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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear 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 Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents 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 Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. 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 lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.