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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number 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 at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While 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 situation at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.