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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm 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 appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.