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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs 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 present season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.