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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm views 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 look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.