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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Several matches into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe 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 team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, 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 look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.