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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect 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 total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. 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 Celtic or Rangers can win.