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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.