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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect 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 Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.