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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past 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 meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. 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 strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.