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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club 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 unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.