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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. 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, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect 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 exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.