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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover 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 loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.