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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered 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 expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics 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 Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can win.