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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think 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 those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. 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. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.