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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced 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 added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed 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 mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, 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 tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.