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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted 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, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise 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 highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.