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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed 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 Jambos leading of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year 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 comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division 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 Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager the head coach after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those 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 are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.