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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as 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 enabled 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 total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, 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 wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.