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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted 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."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.