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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically 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 truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.