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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven 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 Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.