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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.