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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.