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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season 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 divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn 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 any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be 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 players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.