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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling 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

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.