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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem 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, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.