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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes 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 might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.