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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.