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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation 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 horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of 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 added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m 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, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.