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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

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 complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, 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 their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.