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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game 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 decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, 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 somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.