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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was the extent to which surprised observers seemed when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table circulated. Although this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of either team this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

Over the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be prepared to make their move while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While 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 their stadium has resulted in that Celtic's slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a individual who can't stop checking his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal expires, and awoke this day to discover the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that isn't so much a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis 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 exotic footballing outposts, 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 seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of beating the struggling title holders, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth win in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It might validate opinions 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 definitely in fitness we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, 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 besides the traditional powers can claim.