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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when news of the result and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in scale, no one who has been following the progress of either team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the result.

Over the last 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

Although much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who constantly consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and awoke this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

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

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the campaign being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, 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 exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each goal with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for those on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a strong position, and certainly in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.