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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people seemed when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of either squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. 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 influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The defending title winners have so far lost 10 points from their opening nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the loss, after they had questioned his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. In spite of being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL equation. In addition to putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret data-driven proprietary scouting player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight 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 sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so long may that continue. Of course, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can win.