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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men 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 mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. 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 good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.