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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

Over the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.