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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced 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 added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team'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 players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear 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, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.