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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.