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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

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 Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions 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 good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.