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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the standings circulated. While this 3-1 win at Tynecastle, which puts the Jambos top of the league and a significant margin clear of Celtic, was earth-shattering in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of the Old Firm have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the current campaign it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox 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 nine league games this season under their manager. The Celtic manager has developed the distant look of a man who constantly consulting 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 informed reporters following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to try and reverse the standards that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful start to the campaign being experienced by Rangers, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the fray. Despite being obliged to function with a budget that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the investment and expertise of a renowned businessman to the SPL mix. In addition to investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club sole use of his highly confidential data-driven Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to unearth hidden talents from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Spotted at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be observed cheering each goal with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his side's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent victory, their eighth win in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It could alter perceptions. It might validate opinions that there's a fine line. 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 look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven truth is that for the first time in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that somebody besides the traditional powers can win.