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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, 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.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent 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 matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. 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 accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.