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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just 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. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.