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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget 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 Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

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 success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.