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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to strike while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division 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 Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.