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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite 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."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.