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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm 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 strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.