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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished 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, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.