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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this season will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions 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 physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can win.