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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Jambos leading of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both team this season will have been even remotely astonished by the final score.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present campaign it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to see how many days are remaining until his contract expires, and awoke this morning to discover the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own failure 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 small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. As well as putting in £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

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 Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.