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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current 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 ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game 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 the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis 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 mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.