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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people 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 leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.