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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.