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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured 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 on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.