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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise 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 Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.