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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see 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 my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.