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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to find out how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents 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 modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can win.