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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers 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 fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to 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 Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter 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 given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.