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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish Premiership was just how taken aback observers seemed when reports of the outcome and its consequences for the summit of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at Tynecastle, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the progress of both team this campaign will have been in the least astonished by the final score.

For each of the last four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing the beautiful game to almost a punchline in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become apparent that Hearts – who number Stephen Hendry, Olympic champion and Ken Stott among their celebrity fans – might just be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by the Ibrox club, the complete turmoil of the circumstances at their stadium has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have so far dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has acquired the thousand-yard stare of a individual who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many days are remaining until his deal ends, and woke up this morning to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his desire for anything resembling a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to reverse the levels that we're at. It's absolutely fine, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being experienced by Rangers, Rodgers and his men could normally be anticipated to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an Edinburgh disruptor has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of Celtic's as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. In addition to investing £10m during the summer, the Brighton owner has granted the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, Alexandros Kyziridis and a Brazilian prospect it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the total price of a modest car. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had likely noticed the bookies had greatly misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets accordingly.

COACH'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his team's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It might change perceptions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and certainly physically we seem in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that the team is used to being in." No, the manager, it is not. But the wonderful, data-driven reality is that for the initial occasion in many years, Scottish football might genuinely have a title race that a team other than Celtic or Rangers can claim.