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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the only surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing 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 number Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move 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 disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided Hearts sole use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting 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 Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's latest victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the glorious, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.