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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole surprising element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip 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 endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.