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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards 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, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.