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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with 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 obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.