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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus 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 resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester 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 find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated 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. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation 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 ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.