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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback people appeared when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the standings emerged. Although this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – 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 influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to worsen unnoticed. The reigning champions have so far lost a considerable number from their opening nine league games this term under their manager. 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 time are left until his deal expires, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is present to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of Tony Bloom to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be observed celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly noticed the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his side's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.