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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term 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 remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views 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 good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.