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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change 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 given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.