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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there 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 campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive 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 hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.