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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. 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 Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot 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 resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth 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 combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.