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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.