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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"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. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically 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." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.