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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants 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 convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.