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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although 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 Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's chances of beating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically 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 wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can claim.