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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.