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Most pundits had already decided it was a two-horse race for the title when Heart of Midlothian defeated Celtic 3-1 on October 26 to move eight points clear of the reigning champions at the top of the Scottish Premiership.

Even at the start of the season, it was believed that only Brendan Rodgers’ side could close such a gap, even though Hibernian were only three points further back in third place, 11 behind their city rivals.

Given Celtic’s dominance in recent years, there were few people who were willing to risk their lives and think even Hearts had a good chance of surviving.

Two months later, Derek McInnes’ side is still in control, six points clear of Celtic, who have since effectively lost two managers and are currently tense under a third.

Rangers are currently within three points of Celtic and will consider themselves also to be back in the race, despite also having dismissed one of their own head coaches.

Hearts have been in the best position to challenge for the title for 20 years.

In fact, McInnes’ eight victories from 10 top-flight games, including those against Edinburgh, were the only ones that prevented the club from achieving its top spot.

McInnes has spent time with his Aberdeen side, which finished second to Celtic four years in a row between 2015 and 2018.

He has carefully avoided making public statements about a title challenge, and he thinks his team is “no pressure” — at least not less than last year, when the team he would inherit finished in the bottom six.

If we weren’t at the top of the league, he said, “I would feel more mental fatigue.”

“I don’t know how the players interact with it, but I do believe that we are just enjoying it when we are inside and around it.” And I am aware that Lawrence [Shankland] and others I’ve mentioned experienced greater pressure last season.

“For the love of all things, there is nothing worse than feeling underachieving.” Nothing worse than the impression that things are going better. All the slurs and finger-pointing that comes with that.

“So I actually don’t believe there is any pressure on anyone at the club right now. We’re all just having fun with what we’re doing right now.

Wilfried Nancy, the new Celtic manager, hasn’t been much of a subject of investigation into his title ambitions.

Not really an oversight, either. More insight into the fact that Martin O’Neill, the former head of the Columbus Crew, has the job of actually winning games since taking over as interim manager.

After losing his first two games in a row as Celtic manager, a sizable portion of the Glasgow club’s supporters have already called for his dismissal.

Rodgers resigned the following day at Tynecastle after that defeat in October, but veteran former Celtic manager O’Neill kept the momentum going with just one defeat in his eight games in charge.

Whether or not the Celtic hierarchy has expressed regret for not appointing O’Neill as head of the club, it seems like they are digging in, with chief executive Michael Nicholson saying the board was “absolutely solid” behind the Frenchman before Wednesday’s defeat at Dundee United while speculations about sacking him later were thrown out.

O’Neill has suggested that Nancy didn’t spend much time gathering his inside information as the managerial position was passed, and that the Frenchman appears determined to dig his own grave despite the harsh criticism he has received for switching from his four-man defense to his own preferred three.

In fact, he has vowed to continue to experiment and adjust his Celtic players in an effort to come up with a working formula.

Nancy responded, “I get the question, but if you watch all the games we play, I always adjust something.”

The concept is not to remain static; we constantly improve. I must alter how I adjust a few players, how I can combine players, and how I want to change some things about how I see them.

Nancy acknowledged that criticism has been “difficult to accept personally” but that she is aware that our performance is important.

Rangers were in turmoil when Danny Rohl succeeded Russell Martin in October, finishing eighth in the league with just one win out of seven.

Since then, the sides have won six league games and drawn two more, and they are now nine points clear of Hearts in a game against Tynecastle on Sunday.

Rohl acknowledged that his side are still struggling with form, but he was open to it, both in terms of the significance of the game.

The former Sheffield Wednesday boss said, “But I’m very optimistic at the moment about how we go and what we can do.”

We still have some areas where we’re not very good, but we still manage to win things. This is a good fundamental, in my opinion.

“I believe that if we win on Sunday, we’ll be six points clear of them and have one more game in hand.” If you accept this, it could be three, and then things will change.

However, we are aware that there are still many games to play and a long way to go.

The transfer market in January has a lot of potential.

We’ve got to assume that other teams will improve, says McInnes, who has traditionally pulled away from Celtic in recent years after January.

The addition of Tony Bloom’s summer investment will help Hearts’ challenge this time, and Islam Chesnokov, a Kazakhstan winger, is already on the verge of leaving Tobol next month.

In his first transfer window in charge, Rohl joked that he wanted to “sign lots of players” on January 1. He is certain to be supported by the club’s American owners.

Although they have only won the Scottish title once, which was in 1932, Motherwell fans have begun to yearn for the praise their play has received from Jens Berthel Askou’s successor.

It’s so easy to forget how well they’re doing because you’re not used to talking about them in that manner, according to BBC Scotland pundit Rory Loy on the Scottish Football Podcast.

The Danes’ side are currently just two points behind Rangers in fourth place, despite having played a game more. Loy also noted that Aberdeen “have done remarkably well” to bring fifth-place Hibernian level with fifth-top Hibernian after seven league games unbeaten as they travel to Celtic Park on Sunday.

Kicker Charlie Smyth has been named to the side’s full 53-man roster for the first time under a new three-year contract with the New Orleans Saints.

After three practice squad elevations already this season, NFL rules mandate that the 24-year-old from County Down in Northern Ireland be added to the 53-man roster in order to play again against the New York Jets this weekend. Smyth kicked a game-winning field goal for the Saints against the Carolina Panthers last week.

Smyth is now scheduled to make his fourth NFL start against the Jets on Sunday at the Superdome (8:00 GMT).

After signing his first contract with the NFL in March 2024, the former Gaelic footballer had made the Saints’ practice squad as part of its international player pathway program.

Blake Grupe, a former Saints free agent, was added to the active roster in November, making his debut. He has since since made his debut with the Indianapolis Colts.

Smyth defeated veteran Cade York to start in the starting lineup, and he scored a 56-yard field goal and converted an onside kick in his Miami Dolphins debut last month.

Prior to his 46-yard home run last week, the former Down goalkeeper made his home debut against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with six seconds left.