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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered 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 able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed 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 modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.