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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, 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. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.