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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

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 exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.