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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised people seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely shocked by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The reigning champions have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have introduced the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to 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 player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "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're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and definitely in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody other than the traditional powers can win.