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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this season 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 see how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, 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 first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.