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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect 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 lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.