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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much 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 Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated 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 the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.