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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although a lot of the attention 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 decay has been allowed to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to discover 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 questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, 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. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. As well as investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Naturally, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, the manager, 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 somebody other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.