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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems 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. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.