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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, 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 Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win 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 tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.