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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected aspect of Heart of Midlothian's triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was the extent to which surprised observers appeared when news of the outcome and its impact for the top of the standings emerged. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side leading of the table and eight points ahead of Celtic, was earth-shattering in scale, nobody who has been following the fortunes of either squad this season will have been even remotely shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the dominance of two Glasgow clubs of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish league between them, reducing fitba to almost a joke in the process. Nine games into the current season it has become clear that Hearts – who number celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their celebrity fans – could be ready to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

While much of the focus in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being endured by the Ibrox club, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' comparatively less severe decline has been able to fester below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from their opening nine fixtures this term under Brendan Rodgers. The team's boss has developed the distant look of a man who can't stop consulting his Google calendar to find out how many time are left until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure at the club," he told the media following the defeat, after they had questioned his appetite for anything resembling 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."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Given the horrific beginning to the season being experienced by the other Glasgow side, the Celtic boss and his men could typically be expected to escape scrutiny for their own inability to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the fray. Despite being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have introduced the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the off-season, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club sole use of his top secret analytics-based Jamestown Analytics recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovak first division and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday sporting a club colours, the famously shrewd professional gambler could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had greatly underestimated his team's prospects of defeating the struggling title holders, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's latest success, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the periphery. It might change opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we are delighted with what the lads have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we seem in a excellent shape, so we hope it persists. Naturally, this is not a situation that the team is accustomed to being in." Correct, the manager, it is not. But the glorious, data-driven reality is that for the first time in many years, the Scottish game might actually have a championship battle that somebody besides Celtic or Rangers can win.