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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers 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 Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in nature, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

Over the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm influence is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already lost 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his contract expires, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, 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 anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven reality 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.