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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire 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 decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. 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. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.