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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 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 clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike 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 suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just 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 SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.