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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions 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 strong position, and definitely physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. 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 first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.