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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only surprising aspect of Hearts' victory over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised observers appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the table and eight points clear of their rivals, was earth-shattering in nature, nobody who has been following the progress of both squad this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish football between them, reducing fitba to something of a joke in the meantime. Nine games into the present season it has become clear that Hearts – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Old Firm influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the absolute bin-fire being endured by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decay has been able to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped a considerable number from their opening nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the number is 246.

"No one has put in more effort in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his desire for anything resembling a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to try and reverse the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

NEW CHALLENGER

Given the dreadful start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being forced to function with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the SPL equation. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting player identification system.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to discover hidden talents from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the oddsmakers had greatly misjudged his team's chances of beating the out-of-sorts title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer Derek McInnes after his team's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine outings. "It might be for those on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can win.