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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, 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 notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.