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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor 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 comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, 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 man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.