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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top 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, no one who has been following the fortunes of both 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 punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.