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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being forced to function with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.