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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of 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 something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, 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 loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.