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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, 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 mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.