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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, 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. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.