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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function 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 money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.