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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent 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 Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and 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 experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.