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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.