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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.