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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While 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 resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

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

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts 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 team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.