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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga 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 lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.