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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, 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 Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.