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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and 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 experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might actually have a championship battle that a team besides the traditional powers can claim.