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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention 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 meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions 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 strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.