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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.