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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect 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 total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, 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 let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.