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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate 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 look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.