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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, 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 team's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is 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 provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.