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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners 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 see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players 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. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.