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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the progress of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.