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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus 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 meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.