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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided 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 Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.