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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past 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 present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced 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 investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.