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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.