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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least 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 fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' 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 circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. 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 definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.