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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected element of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised observers seemed when news of the result and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, 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.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents 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 matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his side's chances of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side'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 tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.