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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning 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, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.