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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – 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 at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot 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 the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.