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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Several matches into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, 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.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland 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 decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.