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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign 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 football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although 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 resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge 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 highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover 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 Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.