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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

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 Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.