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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced 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 investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled 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 total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies 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 bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used 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 title race that a team besides the traditional powers can win.