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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit 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 clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally 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 small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.