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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' triumph over Celtic in the Scottish top flight was just how surprised people appeared when reports of the result and its impact for the top of the table emerged. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which puts the Edinburgh side top of the league and a significant margin clear of their rivals, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both squad this season will have been even remotely astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of the Old Firm have divided the Scottish league between them, turning the beautiful game to something of a punchline in the process. Nine games into the present campaign it has become clear that Heart of Midlothian – who number celebrated snooker player, Olympic champion and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be prepared to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S DECLINE

While a lot of the focus in Scotland has been on the absolute bin-fire being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the circumstances at Ibrox has meant that Celtic's comparatively less severe decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped a considerable number from their opening nine fixtures this season under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many days are left until his deal expires, and woke up this day to discover the answer is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in my entire tenure here," he informed the media following the defeat, after they had doubted his appetite for anything resembling a championship battle. "Therefore the drive is there to try and reverse the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the dreadful beginning to the campaign being experienced by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but this year an capital city challenger has entered the mix. In spite of being forced to operate with a war-chest that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a minuscule amount in comparison, the Tynecastle outfit have added the money and expertise of a renowned businessman to the Scottish Premiership mix. As well as putting in ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts exclusive use of his highly confidential data-driven proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to unearth unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other lesser-known leagues, for the combined cost of a modest car. Spotted at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the notoriously astute professional gambler could be observed celebrating each score with the enthusiasm of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his side's prospects of beating the out-of-sorts champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a statement win," said the facial-haired team manager the head coach after his side's most recent success, their eighth win in nine league matches. "It might be for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the lads have provided us. Technically, we appear in a strong position, and definitely physically we seem in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is accustomed to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed truth is that for the first time in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team other than the traditional powers can claim.