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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly 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 season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss 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 number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.