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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, 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 used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.