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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, nobody who has been tracking the progress of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

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 almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is at its weakest.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to see how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being forced to function with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest victory, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.