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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided 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 this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.