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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.