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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear 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 accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.