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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.