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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.