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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves 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 fortunes of either team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told 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 reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.