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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, 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 Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents 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 modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.