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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"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 title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.