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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.