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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"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 appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. 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. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.