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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic 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 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number 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 doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change 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. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.