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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year 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 their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent 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 mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be 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 players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.