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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.