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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both squad 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 divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline 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 strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.