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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Several matches into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.