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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured 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 able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems 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 club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, 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 first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.