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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation 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 lost 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards 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 Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally 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 function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.