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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided 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 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 combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, Derek, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.