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HEARTS ON FIRE

Perhaps the sole unexpected element of Hearts' victory over Celtic in the Scottish Premiership was just how surprised people seemed when news of the result and its impact for the summit of the table circulated. While this convincing victory at their home ground, which leaves the Edinburgh side top of the league and eight points clear of Celtic, was seismic in scale, no one who has been following the fortunes of both team this season will have been in the least astonished by the result.

For each of the past four decades, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have carved up the Scottish football between them, turning fitba to something of a joke in the process. Nine games into the present season it has become apparent that Heart of Midlothian – who count celebrated snooker player, Sir Chris Hoy and renowned actor among their famous supporters – might just be ready to strike while the Glasgow duo iron is freezing cold.

CELTIC'S SLUMP

Although much of the attention in Scotland has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has meant that the title holders' slightly less terminal decay has been able to fester below the radar. The reigning champions have already lost 10 points from nine league games this term under Brendan Rodgers. The Celtic manager has developed the thousand-yard stare of a individual who constantly checking his Google calendar to find out how many time are remaining until his deal expires, and woke up this day to learn the answer is 246.

"I've never worked harder in all my time at the club," he informed reporters following the loss, after they had questioned his desire for any kind of a championship battle. "So the motivation is present to attempt to flip the standards that we're at. It's absolutely fine, there is plenty of time."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific start to the season being endured by the other Glasgow side, Rodgers and his men could typically be anticipated to get away with their own failure to roar out of the traps, but on this occasion an capital city challenger has entered the mix. Despite being obliged to operate with a budget that is not just a small portion of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, Hearts have added the money and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as putting in £10m during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has granted Hearts sole use of his top secret analytics-based proprietary scouting recruitment tool.

In Oisin McEntee, a Greek talent and a Brazilian prospect it has allowed them to discover unpolished gems from an English lower-league side, the Slovak first division and the Norwegian second tier, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at their home venue on matchday sporting a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen cheering each score with the gusto of a person who had almost certainly realized the bookies had massively misjudged his team's chances of beating the struggling champions, and placed large bets as a result.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"In my opinion it's a message-sending victory," said bearded Hearts gaffer the head coach after his side's most recent victory, their eighth in nine league matches. "Perhaps it is for others on the outside looking in. It could alter opinions. It may confirm views that there's a fine line. But we must be realistic, we are delighted with what the players have given us. In terms of skill, we appear in a good place, and definitely physically we look in a excellent shape, so long may that continue. Of course, this is not a situation that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the initial occasion in ages, the Scottish game might genuinely have a championship battle that a team besides Celtic or Rangers can claim.