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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.