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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either team this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents 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. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.