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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters 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

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined 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 minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.