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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger 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 minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team 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 title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.