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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top 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 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 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 campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.