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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, 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 typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of 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 expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.