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HEARTS ON FIRE

Maybe the sole surprising aspect of Hearts' triumph over the Glasgow giants in the Scottish top flight was just how taken aback observers seemed when news of the result and its consequences for the top of the table circulated. Although this 3-1 win at their home ground, which leaves the Jambos top of the table and eight points ahead of their rivals, was seismic in nature, no one who has been tracking the fortunes of both team this campaign will have been in the least shocked by the final score.

For each of the past 40 seasons, the Glasgow duopoly of Celtic and Rangers have divided the Scottish football 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 count Stephen Hendry, Sir Chris Hoy and Ken Stott among their famous supporters – could be prepared to make their move while the Glasgow duo influence is freezing cold.

THE CHAMPIONS' DECLINE

While much of the focus in the Scottish game has been on the disastrous season being suffered by Rangers, the full-spectrum nightmare of the situation at Ibrox has resulted in that the title holders' slightly less terminal decline has been allowed to worsen below the radar. The defending title winners have already dropped 10 points from nine league games this term under their manager. The team's boss has acquired the distant look of a man who constantly checking his schedule to see how many time are remaining until his deal ends, and awoke this day to learn the number is over two hundred.

"I've never worked harder in all my time here," he told the media following the loss, after they had doubted his appetite for any kind of a title fight. "So the motivation is there to attempt to flip the levels that we're at. Everything is under control, it's still so early."

EDINBURGH DISRUPTOR

Considering the horrific beginning to the season being endured by Rangers, Rodgers and his players could normally be expected to get away with their own failure to start strongly, but on this occasion an Edinburgh disruptor has joined the mix. Despite being obliged to function with a war-chest that is not just a tiny fraction of their rivals' as a comparative budgetary baw-hair, the Tynecastle outfit have added the investment and knowledge of Tony Bloom to the Scottish Premiership equation. As well as investing ten million pounds during the summer, the Premier League figurehead has provided the club exclusive use of his highly confidential analytics-based Jamestown Analytics player identification system.

In an Irish defender, Alexandros Kyziridis and Cláudio Braga it has enabled them to discover unpolished gems from Walsall, the Slovakian top flight and the Norway's second division, among other exotic footballing outposts, for the combined cost of a mid-range family saloon. Seen at Tynecastle on matchday wearing a Hearts scarf, the famously shrewd sports betting expert could be seen celebrating each score with the gusto of a man who had likely noticed the oddsmakers had massively misjudged his team's prospects of defeating the struggling champions, and filled his boots accordingly.

MANAGER'S REACTION

"I don't think it's a message-sending victory," said bearded team manager Derek McInnes after his side's most recent success, their eighth in nine outings. "It might be for others on the periphery. It could alter opinions. It may confirm opinions that there's a tightrope. But let's not kid ourselves, we're really pleased with what the lads have provided us. In terms of skill, we look in a good place, and certainly in fitness we look in a good place, so we hope it persists. Naturally, it's not a position that this club is used to being in." Correct, Derek, it isn't. But the glorious, analytics-backed reality is that for the first time in ages, Scottish football might actually have a title race that somebody other than the traditional powers can claim.