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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those 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 are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.