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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. Although this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of both squad this campaign will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox 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 lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the number is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is present to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific start to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could typically be anticipated to get away with their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that isn't so much 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 investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has provided the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis 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 lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each goal with the gusto of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for those on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we look 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 is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.