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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move 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 Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss 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 contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.