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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.