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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which taken aback observers appeared when news of the outcome and its consequences for the top of the table emerged. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the league and eight points clear of their rivals, 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 final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decay has been allowed to worsen unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many days are left until his deal expires, and awoke this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to get away with their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on Sunday sporting a club colours, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager the head coach after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a good place, and certainly in fitness we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.