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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge 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 sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm 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 certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.