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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season 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 joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership 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 player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem 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, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.