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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either team this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count 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 at its weakest.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much 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 Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the bookies had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." No, 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 title race that somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can win.