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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems 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 mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"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 outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted 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, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.