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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly 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.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent 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. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, 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 good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, 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 somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.