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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign 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 this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.