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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 Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer 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 doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover 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 combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances of defeating 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 Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.