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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the only unexpected element of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised people appeared when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the standings emerged. While this 3-1 win at their home ground, which puts the Jambos top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become clear that Hearts – who count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – could be prepared to strike while the Old Firm iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' SLUMP

While much of the attention in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to fester unnoticed. The reigning champions have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this season under their manager. The team's boss has developed the thousand-yard stare of a man who constantly consulting his schedule to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this day to discover the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "Therefore the drive is there to try and flip the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the campaign being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has joined the mix. Despite being forced to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his top secret data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent 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 modest car. Spotted at their home venue on Sunday wearing a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be observed cheering each goal with the gusto of a person who had likely realized the oddsmakers had massively underestimated his team's chances of defeating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

COACH'S RESPONSE

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his team's latest success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It might change opinions. It may confirm views that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we look in a strong position, and definitely in fitness we look in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Of course, it's not a position that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, analytics-backed truth is that for the initial occasion in many years, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.