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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – could be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and reverse 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 experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, 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 side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we look in a strong position, 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, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.