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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

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

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure 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 small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.