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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed 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 mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. 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 claim.