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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor 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 the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted Hearts sole 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 unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth 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 we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.