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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"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. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.