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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged 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 statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.