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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been in the least shocked 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, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip 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 the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem 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, the manager, it isn't. 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 besides the traditional powers can claim.