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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.