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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people appeared when reports of the outcome and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team 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 the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the meantime. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

Although a lot of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already lost a considerable number from nine league games this season under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his schedule to find out how many days are left until his contract ends, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in all my time at the club," he told reporters following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Considering the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his players could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a budget that isn't so much a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have introduced the investment and knowledge of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, a Greek talent and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norwegian second tier, among other lesser-known leagues, for the total price of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen cheering each score with the enthusiasm of a person who had almost certainly noticed the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S RESPONSE

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said the facial-haired Hearts gaffer the head coach after his team's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for those on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It might validate views that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the players have provided us. Technically, we look in a good place, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it isn't. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a title race that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.