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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to discover the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there 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 endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled 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 mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.