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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers 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 campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot 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 resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club 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 unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.