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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.