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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game 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 Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change 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 strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.